I think the reason they didn’t foul late was because the coach had conceded the game.
I watched the third and 4th quarters. With 4 players out, including 3 starters, ND was not a top 25 team. Still, we were up 50-49 when what for me were some agonizing and head scratching things happened.
First, their leading scorer had 4 fouls at that point. Yet, the rest of the game Pitt never took it to her; never tried to draw that 5th foul.
Second, for the next 7-plus minutes, ND scored every time they had possession. The defense was just terrible, and when ND missed the first shot, they got second and third shots. I don’t know if Pitt just was too tired to play defense or what. But, ND had a shorter bench than Pitt did because of the players who were out, and they kept playing hard.
Third, Pitt’s entire offense in the last 8 minutes was to get the ball to King. Clearly, she has to be the hub of the offense, but there have to be other options. Timmerson took one shot during that period and swished it. The announcers remarked what a pretty shooting stroke she had. But, there never was an attempt after that to get her the ball for a shot.
I would have thought being up on a ranked team at home, Pitt would have wanted it more, but they didn’t. They got beat to every loose ball, they didn’t grab a defensive rebound for more than 7 minutes, and the offense was 4 players watching King do her thing.
After how well they played in the 3rd quarter, the performance in the final 8 minutes was disheartening.
About Agnus, she did a good job at Pitt before and during the two straight NCAA appearances, but I think a lot of it was luck. She recruited two players who weren’t that highly recruited out of HS, and both turned out to be stars. She ended up with a team featuring a future WNBA player at PG and a Center who was immovable in the post because of her wide body. After they left, the program went downhill rapidly. She never capitalized on that success to recruit better and she never got lucky again with an underrecruited player.