Pittsburgh Blitzes Women's Basketball, 78-57

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PITTSBURGH, Pa. - Pittsburgh had five players score in double figures on its way to a 78-57 victory over the Seton Hall women's basketball team at the Petersen Center on Saturday afternoon.  The Pirates have now dropped four straight.

Junior Ebonie Williams (Hagerstown, Md.) and freshman Terry Green (Bridgewaters, N.Y.) led the Hall (9-17, 1-12) with 14 points each.  Taneisha Harrison paced the Panthers (15-11, 4-9) with 20.

Pitt opened the game with a 12-0 run before Green finally got the Hall on the board with a free throw at the 16:00 minute mark.  Williams hit a three-pointer and a long two as the Pirates got to back within 14-8, but Taneisha Harrison and Brittaney Thomas answered with field goals to push the lead back to 10.

Jania Sims hit from beyond the arc with 9:45 on the clock to give the Panthers a 23-9 edge.  The Pirates later cut it to 11 when senior Letitia Curry (Pennsauken, N.J.) converted a driving left-handed scoop shot that started a spurt for the Hall.  Sophomore Whitney Wood (Santa Margarita, Calif.) knocked down a three, followed by a bucket from senior Ashley Booker (San Diego, Calif.) and a three-point play from Williams that capped a 10-2 run and made it 27-22 with 4:28 left.

Thomas scored from deep as the Panthers regained a 10-point lead with just over two minutes left in the half.  A final push by the Pirates closed the gap to 34-26 at the break after a layup by sophomore Kandice Green (Baltimore, Md.).

Both teams came out hot in the second half, with the Pirates cutting the deficit to six on three occasions, including on a three-pointer from Williams that made it 43-37.  Harrison answered from distance on the other end for Pitt, and it was later back to a 10-point lead after she hit a 17-footer with 15:42 left.

After the Hall got to within seven on short bank shot from senior Nicole Emery (Baldwin, N.Y.), the Panthers immediately responded with buckets from Harrison and Chelsea Cole to claim a 54-43 lead at the 13:13 mark.  Harrison sank another triple, followed by buckets from Thomas and Scott to cap an 11-0 run that yielded a 61-43 advantage four minutes later.

Terry Green drained consecutive three-pointers to get the Hall to within 13 with 6:07 left, but Thomas scored the final four points in a 6-0 Pitt run that made it 69-50 and put the game away.

Booker netted a season-best 10 points for the Pirates, who shot 37.3 percent for the game.  Cole finished with 10 points and 22 rebounds, helping the Panthers to a 44-27 edge on the glass.  Pittsburgh shot 51.6 percent overall and 58.3 percent from downtown.

Seton Hall is back in action on Wednesday when it hosts Louisville at 7:00 p.m. on Pack the House night at Walsh Gymnasium.