Women's Basketball: Mountaineers Fall to Pitt
February 19, 2006 06:40 PM | General
February 19, 2006
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. - Shavonte Zellous hit a pair of free throws with six seconds remaining in the game to lift the Pittsburgh Panthers (18-7, 9-5) to a 62-58 victory over the West Virginia Mountaineers Sunday afternoon at the WVU Coliseum.
The Panthers led 32-24 at halftime and began the second half on a 13-5 run to gain their largest lead of the game at 45-29 with 15:27 left to play.
Showing the pride and determination coach Mike Carey had talked to the team about earlier in the week, the Mountaineers calmly responded with a 15-5 run. Following a Britney Davis-White baseline jumper with 8:22 to go in the game, West Virginia pulled to within six, 50-44.
“I think we showed some pride in the second half, we didn’t quit and we seemed to play harder,” Carey said.
After Pitt extended the lead to 56-46 at the 5:01 mark of the second half, the Mountaineers responded with a furious rally, scoring 10 unanswered points.
Trailing 56-54 Olayinka Sanni made a lay up and was fouled, tying the game at 56 with 1:40 left to play. Sanni failed to convert the free throw attempt and Chakhia Cole then fouled Cheron Taylor on the rebound. Taylor calmly hit both foul shots at the other end to give the Panthers a 58-56 advantage.
On the ensuing possession, Pitt guard Mallorie Winn fouled out with 1:28 to play, after hitting Cole on a shot attempt. However, Cole was unable to hit on either free throw and after each team traded empty possessions, Davis-White fouled Zellous in desperation with 17 seconds to play.
Zellous made both foul shots to give the Panthers a 60-56 lead, but the Mountaineers quickly responded with a Sanni lay up to cut the lead to two, 60-58 with seven seconds left to play. Tameka Kelly then fouled Zellous with six seconds left to set up the game-winning shots.
Winn led the Panthers with 18 points while Mercedes Walker and Zellous each pitched in 17 and 11 respectively.
For the game the Panthers shot just 43 percent (19 of 44) from the floor but won the game at the foul line, making 83 percent (20 of 24) of their free throws.
Sanni led the way for the Mountaineers scoring 17 points on 8 of 15 shooting from the floor. Cole added 13.
West Virginia shot 47 percent from the floor (25 of 53) but hurt themselves at the foul line, making only 40 percent (6 of 15) of their charity shots.
Turnovers continue to plague the Mountaineers as they committed 16 miscues, resulting in 21 Pittsburgh points.
The Mountaineers have now lost four straight and Carey admits that every loss appears to come the same way.
“To me it’s the same old thing. They scored 20 points at the foul line and they got 21 points off our turnovers. That has been our problem all year. We don’t hit our foul shots and we put other people at the foul line. We are turning the ball over and creating easy scores for teams at the other end,” Carey said.
Carey is also questioning the basketball IQ of his team at this point in the season.
“We just are not very smart at the end of games. We get the score tied and then Yinka misses two foul shots and the score is still tied and we foul 94 feet from the basket,” Carey said. “We just gave it away at the end again. It is getting very frustrating.”
Despite the loss, West Virginia (12-12, 4-9) still has an opportunity to go to the Big East Tournament. The Mountaineers are currently 12th in the league and clinging to the last conference tournament spot. That point is not lost on Carey.
“I told the team after the game we have three games left and we have to win at least one. We have two home games left and one on the road so we’re going to have opportunities we just have to take advantage of them,” Carey said.
The Pittsburgh win marked the first Panther victory at the WVU Coliseum since the 1981 season.
The Mountaineers return to action Wednesday as they host Notre Dame (14-9, 5-7) at the WVU Coliseum. Tip time is set for 7:00 p.m.
