Pitt falls to Miami, 60-50

Pitt’s losing streak extended to six games after falling to Miami, 60-50, on Thursday night at the Watsco Center in Coral Gables, Fla. The Panthers trailed by 17 points in the third quarter and battled back to make it a 3-point game in the fourth quarter, but they stalled down the stretch and were unable to convert clutch shots.

Pitt is now 11-15 on the season and 2-13 in the ACC, while Miami improved to 15-10 and 8-7 in conference play.

The Panthers were without leading scorer Jayla Everett, as she didn’t travel with the team to Miami. Without Everett, Liatu King and Amber Brown stepped up and scored double-digits for the Panthers. King scored 15 points and Brown had 11. Thirteen of King’s 15 points came in the second half.

The Panthers shot a lot better in the second half, but they still finished with a 29.8 shooting percentage from the field and were 4-of-15 from behind the arc (26.7%). Miami shot 40.4% from the field and was 3-of-18 on three-point attempts (16.7%).

Pitt turned the ball over a whopping 22 times. Miami’s full-court press gave the Panthers fits all game. Pitt’s inconsistent shooting and frequent turnovers were really the main cause for losing to the Hurricanes.

Miami went on a 9-3 run and led 16-8 at the end of the first quarter. The Panthers made just 14.3% of their shots in the first quarter, while Miami shot at a 55.6 percentage and made two three-pointers.

Pitt continued to struggle offensively in the second quarter and went scoreless in the opening four minutes. Miami wasn’t doing much on offense either, however, and led 18-10 with 4:44 remaining in the second quarter. Dayshanette Harris nailed a three-pointer to cut Miami’s lead to 20-13 with 2:59 left. It was only Pitt’s fourth converted shot from the field. Miami scored nine points in the final 2:20 of the second quarter and went into halftime with a 31-16 lead.

The Panthers made 4-of-24 shots (16.7%) from the field in the first half and were 2-of-6 from behind the arc (33.3%). Along with shooting poorly, the Panthers also really struggled with Miami’s full-court press in the first half, as they turned the ball over 14 times.

The Hurricanes weren’t great from the field either, but they were better than Pitt. The Hurricanes were 7-of-23 (30.4%) and made 2-of-12 three-point attempts (16.7%).

Emy Hayford led Pitt with four points in the first half, while Jasmyne Roberts led Miami with seven points off the bench. Seven different Hurricanes scored in the first half.

After trailing by 17 points, Pitt went on a 6-0 run and got Miami’s lead down to 40-29 with 4:12 left in the third quarter. Destiny Strother then made a three-pointer on the next possession to make it an 8-point game. Pitt continued to control the pace of the game and went into the fourth quarter down 45-38. Pitt went on a 15-5 run to end the third quarter.

Pitt cut Miami’s lead to a one-possession game at 47-44 with 7:47 remaining. Miami then answered with a 4-0 run after baskets by Destiny Harden and Roberts to put the Hurricanes up by seven points. After a scoring surge in the third quarter and beginning of the fourth, Pitt went on a nearly three-minute scoring drought, and Miami pulled away with a 60-50 victory.

Pitt’s next game is on Sunday, Feb. 20 at Virginia. Tipoff is at 4 p.m. ET. The game can be streamed on ESPN+.