Feb. 23, 2000
Villanova, Pa.--- On Wednesday, Feb. 23, in a Big East showdown at The Pavilion, the University of Pittsburgh used a 21-11 run in the last 7:07 of regulation to lift the Panthers to a 64-62 victory over Villanova University. The Wildcats' record falls to 14-11 overall with the loss and 7-7 in the Big East, while Pittsburgh improves to 15-10 overall and 6-8 in conference play.
Villanova started the game strong, jumping out to a 16-7 lead by the 7:42 mark of the first half. With the Wildcats holding a 24-15 advantage, 3:37 before intermission, Pittsburgh went on a 10-4 run to cut the margin to 28-25 at the half.
Villanova shot the ball well in the first stanza, hitting on 12-of-25 attempts from the floor for 48 percent. Junior center Brandi Barnes led the `Cats with eight points, while freshman Katie Davis came of the bench to net seven. For the Panthers, guard Gina Montesano tallied eight points in the first half.
Villanova opened the second half much like they began the first. Tied at 28-28 at the 18:59 mark, the Wildcats used a 12-3 run over the next 4:31 to extend their lead to 40-31 with 14:28 remaining. Freshman guard Trish Juhline sparked the Villanova surge with 10 points, including two three-pointers.
With the `Cats up by eight at 51-43 with 7:21 left in the contest, the Panthers quickly rallied. An 8-2 run trimmed the Villanova lead to two points, and when guard Monique Toney scored on a driving layup at the 3:57 point, Pittsburgh took its first lead of the second half at 54-53.
Toney hit yet another big shot minutes later for the Panthers, as a three-pointer broke a 58-58 tie and gave Pittsburgh a three-point lead. With the Panthers holding a 63-60 lead and just over 17 seconds to go in regulation, Davis launched a shot and hit from the top right corner for the Wildcats. Her foot was just over the three-point line, however, and brought Villanova only to within one at 63-62. The `Cats had one last chance at the buzzer, but a Jenea Skeeters' shot fell short, and Pittsburgh came away with the 64-62 victory.
Barnes led Villanova with 13 points and five boards in the loss, while Juhline and Davis netted 12 and 10 respectively. The Wildcats shot 49.1 percent for the game, on 27-of-55 from the field. Rounding out the Villanova scoring was Nicole Druckenmiller with seven points, Stephanie Baker, Megan Stewart and Skeeters with six and Mary Beth Snell with two.
For Pittsburgh, Amanda Wittenmyer scored a game-high 15 points on six-of-nine shooting Scoring in double figures as well, were Toney with 14 and Montesano with 10.
The Wildcats will get back into action on Saturday, Feb. 26, traveling to Providence to face the Friars at 2:00 p.m.
