Almost on pace to score 100 points against the Pitt women’s basketball team, SMU appeared headed to an easy victory Sunday at Petersen Events Center.
Then, the second half happened.
Pitt held SMU scoreless in the third quarter and allowed only 10 points in the second half on its way to a historic 72-59 victory.
The Panthers trailed 46-14 with 1 minute, 37 seconds left in the second quarter and 49-18 at halftime. But the Panthers combined strong defense and accurate shooting to outscore SMU, 54-10, in the second half and record the largest regulation comeback victory in NCAA women’s basketball history. It ties a 32-point deficit overcome in 2006 by Texas State against UTSA in overtime.
“I came in at halftime and said, ‘I don’t have any magic words and I don’t have any magic plays,’ ” Pitt coach Tory Verdi told 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.”
The victory was Pitt’s first in the ACC after five games and leveled its record to 9-9. SMU (10-7, 2-3) had won five of its previous six games.
Pitt redshirt sophomore guard Mikayla Johnson came off the bench to score 22 points, and graduate center Khadija Faye added 21, with 12 rebounds and six blocks. MaKayla Elmore recorded 13 rebounds and seven points, and Marley Washenirtz scored 14 points, with three 3-pointers. Brooklynn Miles handed out eight assists.
The Panthers shot 59.1% (16 of 27) in the second half and went ahead for good 57-54 with 4:55 left in the fourth quarter on a 3-pointer by Elmore with an assist from Miles. Pitt had been 0-9 after trailing entering the fourth quarter.
