The Virginia women’s basketball team (15-11, 5-8 ACC) fell 68-63 in overtime at Pittsburgh (18-8, 8-5 ACC) on Thursday (Feb. 19) at the Petersen Events Center.
A jumper from freshman Aliyah Huland El (Randolph, N.J.) gave Virginia a 10-point lead with 5:47remaining, but the Cavaliers did not make another field goal until there were 13 seconds remaining in overtime, going 0-of-7 from the field to close out regulation and 1-of-6 in overtime.
The Cavaliers clung to a 57-55 advantage in the final 30 seconds. Freshman guard Mikayla Venson (Arlington, Va.) was fouled with 24 seconds remaining, making one of two free throws to give UVa a 58-55 edge. Pitt’s Brianna Kiesel scored a layup on the opposite end, making it a one-point game. Pitt’s Stasha Carey stole the ensuing inbounds pass and was immediately fouled, making the first free throw to tie the game but missing on her second attempt. Senior center Sarah Imovbioh (Abuja, Nigeria) came up with the rebound with 13 seconds remaining, but Virginia couldn’t get off a shot before the end of regulation.
Back-to-back layups by Kiesel in the overtime period gave Pitt the initial advantage as the Panthers held on for the victory, handing Virginia its fourth-straight loss.
“We didn’t execute well down the stretch,” said Virginia head coach Joanne Boyle. “We were trying to run some sets to get people the right shots, but then we didn’t get them and took a lot of bad shots instead, which resulted in easy offense for Pitt.”
Imovbioh scored 18 points, including going 8-of-10 from the free throw line, with 18 rebounds, her 11thdouble-double of the season. Venson had 11 points.
Kiesel scored 23 points, going 9-of-18 from the field, with six rebounds and three assists. Carey had 17 points with nine rebounds, three assists, three steals and four blocked shots.
Virginia never trailed in regulation, closing out the first half on a 9-2 run to take a 30-20 lead into the break. The Panthers came out hot in the second half, opening the period on an 8-2 run to pull to within four, 32-28 with 17:30 remaining, but Venson hit three-straight jumpers to put the Cavaliers back up 10, 38-28. Pitt converted back-to-back steals into five points to narrow the gap to four, 53-49, with four minutes remaining. A pair of free throws from Imovbioh temporarily stopped the run. After Pitt again pulled to within four, Imovbioh hit two more free throws to make it a six-point game, 57-51, with 2:06 on the clock. Back-to-back Carey layups made it 57-55 with 57 seconds remaining.
After shooting 33.3 percent (8-of-24) in the first half, Pitt made 15-of-30 shots during their comeback in the second half. Virginia shot 37.9 percent (11-of-29) in the first half and 35.5 percent in the second half (11-of-31). The Cavaliers were 1-of-9 from three-point range while Pitt made 3-of-20 long-range shots.
Virginia returns home on Sunday, Feb. 22, hosting Virginia Tech at 1 p.m.
The game is part of the Commonwealth Clash presented by Virginia529, which is a head-to-head, points-based competition between the athletic teams at Virginia and Virginia Tech. The Commonwealth Clash encourages a friendly, statewide rivalry between the two schools across all school-sponsored sports with 21 individual event points on the line. Fans are also encouraged to support their team through a fan-based point. The school that accumulates 11.5 points or more will be crowned the winner and take home the Virginia529 Commonwealth Clash trophy. A half-point is at stake in Sunday’s game. Currently, the Cavaliers lead the Hokies, 5.5-2.5
Single-game ticket prices for all home games are $10 for Reserved seating, $8 for adult General Admission and $6 for youth (18 & under), senior (60 & over) and UVa faculty/staff General Admission. Fans may purchase home game tickets through the Virginia Athletics Ticket Office online at VirginiaSports.com, by phone and in person. The Virginia Athletics Ticket Office is located in Bryant Hall at Scott Stadium and openMonday through Friday from 9 a.m. until 5 p.m. Telephone purchases can be made by calling 1-800-542-UVA1 (8821) or locally at 434-924-UVA1 (8821).
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