Pitt women beat St. Francis but...

[MajorMajors]

It took OT to do it. Would have been a bad loss as SF was 3-8 with losses by 20 to Duquesne and >40 to Rutgers and Baylor...

Pitt had 25 turnovers, which led to 37 SF points. Fortunately, SF had 27 turnovers...

Pitt was led offensively by Garven, Whitney and Walsh. Whitney continues to be real hot or real cold — she shot 5 for 7. Garven was 9 for 19.

Pitt’s near downfall was being outscored 25 to 6 in the second quarter.

Pitt’s next game is against Duquesne.

This was another game where Pitt kept fighting even when behind.

Go Pitt.

 

[Joe the Panther Fan]

Ahead 17-10 at the end of the first quarter, behind 35-23 at the half. That second quarter was one of the worst quarters they've played in a long time, and given the state of the program that's saying a lot. That wasn't a team like Notre Dame or Florida State that ran us out of the gym in the second quarter, that was a bad 3-9 team from the NEC that ran us out of the gym in the second quarter.

You mention Jasmine Whitney, and I think her foul trouble was a big issue last night. She got her second mid-way through the first quarter and left the game. She came back in for a possession or two in the second quarter and picked up another, so she sat the rest of the half. Fortunately that was the last foul she was called for on the game. In the first half, she played 8 minutes and was a +5 in her time on the court, which means that in the 12 minutes when she wasn't on the court Pitt was -17. That is a startling difference.

For me, the turning point of the game came late in the third quarter. Pitt had cut the lead down but St. Francis made a couple shots and got the lead back to 9. Kauai Bradley got fouled on an offensive rebound and made the two shots. Pitt started pressing with Bradley at the point of the press. She used her long arms to leap high and intercept a cross court pass and take it in for an uncontested layup. Then the press forced a traveling violation before St. Franicis could cross the center court line on the next possession, which led to a Bradley pass to Judkins for a layup. St. Francis made a foul shot but Pitt followed with a Whitney basket and another Bradley to Judkins layup to tie the game at the end of the 3rd quarter.

So over the last 2:10 of the 3rd quarter Bradley had two foul shots and a layup for 4 points, 2 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 steal, and 1 other forced turnover. It was the turning point of the night, and she was the reason. Her overall numbers were, well, weird. 2-2 on ones, 3-5 on twos, but 0-3 on threes. 8 points, 8 rebounds, 5 assists but 7 ugly turnovers, 3 blocks, 5 steals in 36 minutes. Some good stuff there, but some bad stuff too. But a really full stat line none the less.

One other note, Alayna Gribble was there helping rebound misses and passing balls around in the warmups. She was on the bench during the game as well. So that's a good sign. Hopefully she'll be back next week, because this team could desperately use a shooter and she's probably the best we've got.

 

[MajorMajors]

Excellent report, Joe. Thank you.

I’ve heard Coach White talk about true freshman PG Knight, saying she is about the only player they have who has the quickness to go one on one offensively. I’m glad to see him working her in, but I’m sure she’s on a steep learning curve.

I see Knight played 16 minutes yesterday and didn’t score, but she was credited with 3 assists, 3 steals, and only 1 turnover (but she had 4 fouls)...

Go Pitt.

 

[Saboteur]

Excellent report, Joe. Thank you.

I’ve heard Coach White talk about true freshman PG Knight, saying she is about the only player they have who has the quickness to go one on one offensively. I’m glad to see him working her in, but I’m sure she’s on a steep learning curve.

I see Knight played 16 minutes yesterday and didn’t score, but she was credited with 3 assists, 3 steals, and only 1 turnover (but she had 4 fouls)...

Go Pitt.

Suzie didn't leave anything in the cupboard. Hard for me to respect SM. She cashed big checks and kept regressing. She was a complete bust and damage she did will take years to overcome.

 

[Chescat]

St. Francis was scrappy but that's about it. These were two teams with limited
talent, between the two I give the talent edge to Pitt. Very sloppy, physical game.
I like how we once again fought hard and came back for a win after being down.

Some Pitt players mentioned in this thread: Bradley, pretty nice athlete but
lacking in a number of areas, especially her shot. She hustles, hits the boards,
and is good on D. Offensively she adds very little.
Whitney another good athlete, but also one who lacks much of an offensive
game. Her missed foul shots at the end of regulation were almost costly.
Walsh good athletically and has some skills. What I like about her is she
gives you what she has i.e. plays to her potential.
Those three are good, but not ACC level. In fact there's nobody IMO who is
ACC level on this team except for Bugg who is out injured. Like the men's
team they are hustling and really working hard. I appreciate this in them. I
also feel that the coach is doing a superb job given with what he has to work.

 

[Joe the Panther Fan]

I’ve heard Coach White talk about true freshman PG Knight, saying she is about the only player they have who has the quickness to go one on one offensively. I’m glad to see him working her in, but I’m sure she’s on a steep learning curve.

She's just out of her depth at this point. On a night like last night when Whitney got in foul trouble and Bugg is out for at least a while she got thrown into the fire because they don't have many other choices, but the game was being played at a level that she's just not ready for yet. Twice she blew past her defender for essentially an uncontested layup, and both times she missed the layup. For the most part she's not even looking to take a shot.

Obviously they aren't playing for this season anyway, so they need to try to keep working her in. But if she's out of her depth in a game against St. Francis she is going to be in a world of trouble against numerous teams on the ACC schedule.

 

[Joe the Panther Fan]

BTW, for those who didn't see it a St. Francis player got called for a technical foul for stomping on Whitney at one point late in the 3rd quarter. She was the center, so not much of a ball handler, and she took a couple dribbles to the hoop and Whitney cut her off and she plowed into Whitney for the charging call. Whitney fell to the floor below her and she looked down and intentionally stepped right down on her chest/shoulder area. The ref thought about it for a couple seconds before deciding to call the T. They did also review it and upheld the call.

Of course they let Whitney shoot the foul shots, and she missed them both.

 

[Chescat]

BTW, for those who didn't see it a St. Francis player got called for a technical foul for stomping on Whitney at one point. She was the center, so not much of a ball handler, and she took a couple dribbles to the hoop and Whitney cut her off and she plowed into Whitney for the charging call. Whitney fell to the floor below her and she looked down and intentionally stepped right down on her chest/shoulder area. The ref thought about it for a couple seconds before deciding to call the T. They did also review it and upheld the call.

Of course they let Whitney shoot the foul shots, and she missed them both.

Yeah. I saw that. Whitney could have won the game on the FT's. I liked how
Walsh stood up for her team mate by firing off some verbal sh.... Enough to
be effective, but not too much, as she avoided a T herself. A guy mighta thrown
a punch and also been T'd up. LOL
You mentioned Knight in a previous post. I see some potential with her, and
she can handle the ball out front and is quick. However, as you also pointed
out she's no scoring threat.
I like this team's effort, and what the coach has them doing. They hustle on D,
and actually have a clue on offense. The problem is they're just limited
talent wise.

 

[Joe the Panther Fan]

I liked how
Walsh stood up for her team mate by firing off some verbal sh.... Enough to
be effective, but not too much, as she avoided a T herself. A guy mighta thrown
a punch and also been T'd up. LOL

I didn't see Walsh's reaction live (I did see the stomp and started yelling for a technical right away) but I rewatched that part of the game a little bit ago and saw her reaction on there. After the stomp as the St. Francis player was walking away she (Walsh) sort of stepped towards her and said "you f*cking {something that may have been bitch}". But by then the baseline ref was starting to jump in between them, so she didn't go any further. But she was pissed. And rightly so.

 

[Chescat]

I didn't see Walsh's reaction live (I did see the stomp and started yelling for a technical right away) but I rewatched that part of the game a little bit ago and saw her reaction on there. After the stomp as the St. Francis player was walking away she (Walsh) sort of stepped towards her and said "you f*cking {something that may have been bitch}". But by then the baseline ref was starting to jump in between them, so she didn't go any further. But she was pissed. And rightly so.

I laughed when I saw it.