Mountaineers Fall to Rival Pitt

By Julie Brown for WVUsports.com
February 05, 2011 07:55 PM

Liz Repella led the team in scoring, posting 21 points against Pitt. She also had three steals and three assists.

All-Pro Photography/Dale Sparks Photo

MORGANTOWN, W. Va. – No. 14 West Virginia lost the first of two regular-season games against BIG EAST rival Pitt, 60-53, on Saturday afternoon at the Coliseum. The third largest crowd in program history attended the game, with 8,025 fans showing up to support both the team and breast cancer awareness.

The game came down to the last minute, as West Virginia had overcome a 10-point deficit to take a 51-49 lead on free throws from Madina Ali with 3:19 remaining. A jumper from Sarah Miles would then increase the advantage to 53-49, with 2:40 left to go. But Pitt would have the answer, as senior guard Taneisha Harrison quickly made her fourth 3-pointer of the game to bring the Panthers (11-11, 3-6 BIG EAST) to within one.

A West Virginia turnover gave the ball back to Pitt, allowing Chelsea Cole to make an easy layup and put the Panthers ahead by one. From there, Harrison would sink her fifth 3-pointer to force the Mountaineers (20-4, 6-4 BIG EAST) to foul and effectively end the game.

“I told that group that was in there when we made that comeback; they played with a lot of heart,” said coach Mike Carey. “I think we have a couple of people not playing hard, so I’m going to start sitting people and start playing people that come out with a lot of energy, and we’ll go from there.”

West Virginia struggled with shooting the entire game, going 16-of-52 (30.8%) from the field and 4-of-14 (28.6%) from 3-point range. They were able to hit free throws, however, shooting 85 percent (17-of-20) from the charity stripe when the team needed it most.

They were also able to outscore Pitt off turnovers, posting 20 points off Panther mistakes, while also putting up six fast break points. In addition, the Mountaineers won the turnover battle, posting only 14 turnovers to Pitt’s 20.

“Our girls were fired up,” Carey said. “They came in talking more than they have and it was probably one of the best warm-ups we have had. It wasn’t really so much that we were standing around, but we just couldn’t score. And when you can’t score, it drains you a lot, mentally, it drains you.”

In contrast, the Panthers shot 47.5 percent (19-of-40) from field-goal range and 45.5 percent (5-of-11) from beyond the arc to claim the overall advantage. They weren’t as successful as the Mountaineers at making free throws, shooting just 68 percent (17-of-25). Yet the Panthers made up for it in rebounding, pulling down 34 rebounds to West Virginia’s 29.

“We knew at halftime that West Virginia is a great team and they weren’t 20-3 for no reason,” said Pitt coach Agnes Berenato. “We knew that it was a game of runs and that they definitely would come back and that the crowd would get them into it. I said it would not only be their team that the crowd would get caught up in, but it would be everyone on the court that would get caught up in the crowd. The one thing I talked to my team about at that timeout was we cannot get caught up in the crowd. The crowd took us out of it and we kind of were in awe listening to the 8,000 people. It was a great crowd and it was a great basketball game.”

Senior guard Liz Repella nearly had her second double-double of the season in the loss, as she led the team in scoring with 21 points while grabbing eight boards. At one point, she brought the team back into the game, as she scored four-straight critical points to tie the game at 47. She also picked up three more steals.

Ali followed Repella, posting 13 points and taking down three boards in 15 minutes of play. Early foul trouble sent Ali to the bench for most of the first half, limiting her scoring opportunities and ability to bring much needed energy to the floor for the Mountaineers. Miles rounded out the top three scorers, putting up eight points, while notching three assists and three steals.

Harrison led the Panthers in scoring, posting 30 points against the Mountaineer defense. Cole followed with 15 points, while redshirt-senior guard Jania Sims and redshirt-freshman guard Ashlee Anderson each scored five.

The loss ends the Mountaineer home court winning streak at 31 games. The Panthers were also the last team to beat West Virginia at home prior to the start of the winning streak, defeating the Mountaineers on Feb. 24, 2009.

“We had a great crowd and a great atmosphere,” said Carey. “It’s just a shame that as bad as we played we had a four-point lead with two minutes to go. It’s just a shame; I’m sick over it.

“We will come in tomorrow for weights and practice, and look at film to start preparing for Connecticut,” he ended.

West Virginia returns to the Coliseum on Tuesday, Feb. 8. to host No. 2 Connecticut. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m., with the contest airing live on CBS College Sports.

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