Pitt women’s BB - ouch…
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Only comparable improbable comeback I can remember seeing first-hand was the football game against WVU in 1970. WVU led 35-8 at the half and Pitt came back to win 36-35.
Robertson had 17 at the end of the 1st. Brooklyn Miles didn't play one second in the 1st. Miles came in to start the second quarter. She played all 30 minutes the rest of the way. She was the main person guarding Robertson after that (obviously, others helped out on switches and the like). Robertson scored 4 in the 2nd, 0 in the 3rd, and 2 in the 4th.
I've said this before, but that's another example of I don't understand what we are doing with some of our player rotations.
Would love to know what took place in the locker room at the half. Did Coach give them hell or encourage them or what…
Well first of all a number of OTHERS on here besides Chescat have posted some
great thoughts and listed some mind boggling stats (both SMU and Pitt.) I have never
seen anything like this. We've all seen great combacks and some that were incredible.
But this??....Beyond belief!
When we were down 32-7 and 49-18 at the half, I thought here we go again....will they
score 100 on us like GT did? Then 28- 0 in the 3rd Qtr What the hell was that??? And
then 26-10 in Qtr 4. I figured SMU would wake up in the 4th. What I saw (tv only) was
a killer's instinct in that last Qtr. Marley hitting threes and other clutch shots along
with Johnson's 22.... all this while Malcolm went scoreless and only played 7 minutes.
None of us here (certainly not I) would ever have predicted this either. As for my
predictable A/TO ratio rant.....who woulda thunk we'd be 18/15? That for us is an amazing
turn around! Where did that come from?
Those of you at the game can comment on body language, attitude, pride, etc as you
can see it first hand. As for Verdi's half time talk, we obviously have no clue. If he
were out there on the floor slapping fives during lay up drills. my sense is didn't read
them the riot act, but some how got thru to their inner selves. I'm really happy for
these young women. Last game I posted that they work hard and seem to be
good team mates. They DESRVE this. I hope they build on it.
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When Pitt came out and cut the lead from 30 to 20, I remember thinking well, at least the score won’t be so embarrassing. Then Pitt keeps scoring and cuts the lead to 10 - and I’m thinking that I’m happy because the score will look at least somewhat competitive.
But then Pitt keeps scoring and Pitt’s defense keeps forcing SMU to take tough shots and the notion finally enters my head that Pitt could maybe actually win this game.
Then Pitt jumps into the lead and the weirdest part was that in the final 4-5 minutes, there really wasn’t the expected “Pitt drama.” Pitt just pulled away and won the game comfortably. Truly amazing. (The SMU players and coaches and fans must be in shock.)
A truly memorable afternoon at the Pete.
Jose Negron DK Sports
“The Pitt women's basketball team completed the largest regulation comeback in NCAA history by erasing a 32-point first half deficit to secure a 72-59 win over SMU at the Petersen Events Center on Sunday. Texas State previously recorded a 32-point comeback in 2006, but needed overtime to defeat UTSA.
The Panthers were down 32-7 at the end of the first quarter and saw that deficit swell to 49-18 by halftime. They won the third quarter by a 28-0 margin and ended up outscoring SMU, 54-10, in the second half. The third-quarter shutout was the first in program history.”
“The Pitt women's basketball team completed the largest regulation comeback in NCAA history by erasing a 32-point first half deficit to secure a 72-59 win over SMU at the Petersen Events Center on Sunday. Texas State previously recorded a 32-point comeback in 2006, but needed overtime to defeat UTSA.
The Panthers were down 32-7 at the end of the first quarter and saw that deficit swell to 49-18 by halftime. They won the third quarter by a 28-0 margin and ended up outscoring SMU, 54-10, in the second half. The third-quarter shutout was the first in program history.”
Pitt women's 32-point comeback ties NCAA record
Pittsburgh -- down by 32 points in the first half, still down by 31 at intermission -- tied the largest comeback in NCAA women's basketball history, rallying to stun SMU 72-59 on Sunday.
It’s on the front page of espn.com
Saw this from Coach Verdi:
“I came in at halftime and said, ‘I don’t have any magic words and I don’t have any magic plays,’” Verdi said in an interview with The Associated Press. “We were just getting outworked, we were getting outplayed. It was a positive, spirited conversation. I challenged them. We talked about pride, having a sense of pride. And then essentially I gave them a roadmap to get us back into the game.”
“I came in at halftime and said, ‘I don’t have any magic words and I don’t have any magic plays,’” Verdi said in an interview with The Associated Press. “We were just getting outworked, we were getting outplayed. It was a positive, spirited conversation. I challenged them. We talked about pride, having a sense of pride. And then essentially I gave them a roadmap to get us back into the game.”
And you know who else deserves it? The fans that have been attending these games. Hard to watch them on tv, let alone actually get yourself to the Pete in the middle of winter for some of these disasters. Kudos to you few that were there to see it in person..
A few amateur observations from attending the women’s game yesterday:
In spite of the amazing 2nd half yesterday, this team really needs a couple more players who can score. Faye struggled early, but was terrific in the 2nd half, both offensively and defensively. Johnson has good size and a nice looking shot and I’m guessing could be pretty good - she needs to get a more consistent arc on her shots (sometimes too flat). Marley really sparked the comeback with her 3s and her hustle - she needs to get more consistent as a shooter. Elmore made a couple critical 3s yesterday, but she’s not someone you would rely on from 3 — she does rebounds well.
Miles is not a big scoring threat, but she did seem to get the ball into Faye well and she hustles on defense. SMU’s short guard who was killing Pitt from 3, was a perfect matchup for her.
The rest of the roster doesn’t add much pop. Battle is very athletic, but struggles to score. Malcolm can shoot the 3 and gives good effort, but she seems to lack the quickness to get shots off.
I guess our injured guard Jenkins is another potential scorer but she was out on the floor before the game with a crutch…
A big thank you to the Pitt women’s BB team for yesterday’s lasting, positive memory.
In spite of the amazing 2nd half yesterday, this team really needs a couple more players who can score. Faye struggled early, but was terrific in the 2nd half, both offensively and defensively. Johnson has good size and a nice looking shot and I’m guessing could be pretty good - she needs to get a more consistent arc on her shots (sometimes too flat). Marley really sparked the comeback with her 3s and her hustle - she needs to get more consistent as a shooter. Elmore made a couple critical 3s yesterday, but she’s not someone you would rely on from 3 — she does rebounds well.
Miles is not a big scoring threat, but she did seem to get the ball into Faye well and she hustles on defense. SMU’s short guard who was killing Pitt from 3, was a perfect matchup for her.
The rest of the roster doesn’t add much pop. Battle is very athletic, but struggles to score. Malcolm can shoot the 3 and gives good effort, but she seems to lack the quickness to get shots off.
I guess our injured guard Jenkins is another potential scorer but she was out on the floor before the game with a crutch…
A big thank you to the Pitt women’s BB team for yesterday’s lasting, positive memory.
Teams exchanged jerseys. If there weren't people there that witnessed it, that would be the first thing to come to mind.
That's just insane.
Her game is the one that doesn't make sense to me. She looks good. She's athletic. She can get her own shot. She's (relatively) smooth with the ball.
And after her good game yesterday, she's shooting 57.1% on ones, 32.6% on twos, and 22.4% on threes. Which, of course, is awful.
If you watch her play but could not see the basket and the results of her shots you'd think she was really lighting it up. But the ball just doesn't actually go into the basket all that often.
Major, good review. You're right about "really needing a couple more players who can score." As for this year
a few more performances like yesterday's 3rd and 4th qtr would be great. The reality is those qtrs will
give our players a morale boost but I doubt they'll be repeated. Johnson for instance was a difference maker
with her shots against SMU but the reality is she's shooting below 30% from the field and barely 50% Ft's.
Yesterday was not the norm (far from it). Marley....well she's been horrible from the field for three years now.
Yesterday she scored 14 pts and IMO led the charge. To her credit she's physical, draws offensive fouls gets
steals and is all over the floor. The only consistent scorer is Faye, and once gain she had 20 plus yesterday.
Malcolm, I can't understand why they don't run sets for her.. She lacks quickness and can't create against a
quick ACC guard. Even so, I believe if they ran some sets for her she'd score because she's a shhoter. Miles
as you pointed out adds a lot on the offensive end even though not a scoring threat. She's also an eample
of what I just said about a quick ACC guard on the defensive side of the floor.
OK, now for next year. We lose Faye which will be a major loss. Can Verdi bring in another from the portal who
can do what she did here? Miles and Elmore I think will graduate (I'm not sure). So Marley and Johnson return.
Thats a good thing but they really need to get close to yesterday's performance. Malcolm I hear will leave.
Jenkins IMO is our best player. Will she be available after hrer injury? There's one oe two others who didn't
play this year for various reasons (inuries?). The other returnees are not difference makers. Even with some
better than usual frosh recruits, Verdi must hit the portal hard, harder than this year.
Im sorry if this appears to be a negative post. I'm just giving a realistic overview as I see it. I'm euphoric over
our recent performance against SMU and hope they build on it. The question is....Can Verdi bring em here
out of the portal?
Yeah, I see her the same way as you do. Unfortunately what we saw from her against SMU (shooting wise) is
not what we've seen all season so far. The question is, can she improve on her pervious stats and get close
to what we saw is possile for her? She and Marley are both athletes.....getting them to put the ball in the basket
has been a real chore. Hell, sometimes I wonder if they can put it in the ocean. Well, after yesterday's performance
they can. Let's see if we can see more of it. Definitely a morale boost for both of them. Fingers crossed for them.
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It would have been nice if after the big comeback the schedule maker had done us a favor with our next game. Maybe have a chance to pick up another win, get on a roll. Instead we get a game at top 25 NC State on a night that they are inducting Debbie Antonelli into their Ring of Honor. Because of that, the game is sold out. It's going to be an uphill climb to say the least. And then we get a home game, but against another top 25 North Carolina.
Why couldn't we have gotten Boston College and Wake this week instead?
I was at the game on Sunday. I really don’t think it was that big of a come back. More of an anomaly. SMU was not a very good team. They were making shots that they usually don’t make the first half and we made shots we usually don’t make the second half. It looked like SMU wasn’t even playing defense the second half
I agree with the review of the players. I am not sure who is coming back next year. I think a lot less than expected. I wonder even if Battle will come back. Malcolm graduates a year early so I am thinking she will go to a school for her graduate degree somewhere else and not be back. I do agree that they do not use her shooting ability at all. I am from Pittsburgh so I would love to see her stay in town. She is also from Pittsburgh so maybe one of the two local schools will pick her up. She could help them maybe make it through to March. I am sure they would love to have her. I am sure they would use her in a much better capacity. It might not be big basketball but if you can help a team actually win a conference, get your degree paid for and have some fun doing it what does it matter. (And better coaching from what I have seen)
On a side note has any one heard if they are going to give players a 5th year or not. I heard rumblings of it but have not heard the outcome
I agree with you on Malcolm. I hate to say it but she would probably really shine at Duquesne.
Well I agree, it definitely was an "anomaly." I'm not sure how you could think it wasn't "that big
of a comeback." When a team as bad as Pitt is, comes back from down 30 pts at the half and
wins going away by 13 pts, it seems to me it exemplifies the term "comeback" in every which way
possible. Not to mention the fact that ESPN and other media outlets had it all over the news as the
greatest (in regulation time) "comeack" EVER in women's basketball.
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Yup, She would do well there. Case in point.... Gabby Hutcherson transferred there from Pitt.
She currently is a starter and the fourth highest scorer, and third in minutes played. She's
doing well, and once again she was over her head here as an ACC player. Also once again,
we've had A-10 talent here while trying to compete in the ACC.
As for Malcolm, I've repeatedly posted that IMO offensive sets should be utilized to get her open.
I know, she's a local favorite and a great shooter. Problem is she's not quick, and can't create
against ACC guards who ARE quick. Transfer down to A10 Duquesne, and IMO we'll see a much
better result.
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Well if the media and espn called it a comeback then definitely it was. By definition it was a comeback yes but as you said Pitt is not a good team and SMU was not a good team and it was a game of 2 teams that didn’t score in each half and Pitt happen to score more at the end. I give it to the girls for not giving up and I am very happy for them but I just didn’t feel like it was that dramatic. Especially watching such poor defensive performances. One team in the first half and the other team in the second half but again a comeback by definition is a comeback. Maybe they can carry it over to the next game we will see.
