Pitt women's basketball upsets Notre Dame in ACC Tournament

Lance White’s second season as Pitt’s women’s basketball coach has been a tough one. Junior guard Kyla Nelson missed all but four games because of a bout with cancer, and the Panthers suffered through a 1-17 mark in the ACC (4-25 overall).

The team had something to celebrate Wednesday.

Dayshanette Harris scored 20 points, including the tiebreaking basket with 2 seconds left, and Ismini Prapa came off the bench to score 12 points as 15th-seeded Pitt upset No. 10 seed Notre Dame, 67-65, in the first round of the ACC Tournament in Greensboro, N.C. Harris also had 10 rebounds, and Gabbie Green and Amber Brown added 14 and 12 points, respectively.

It was the second ACC Tournament win in the program’s history.

Pitt, the lowest seed in the tournament, next faces Georgia Tech on Thursday at 6 p.m. The Yellowjackets (19-10) are seeded seventh.

The Panthers led by four with 3 minutes, 4 seconds remaining, but the Irish held Pitt scoreless while producing four points of their own to tie the score with 21 seconds left on a steal and layup by Katlyn Gilbert. That set up Harris’ heroics, a pullup jumper from the left side.

Notre Dame scored the game’s first seven points before Pitt battled back. The Irish built the lead to 21-12 early in the second quarter. The Panthers took their first lead at 24-23 on Harris’ layup at 5:40 of the second quarter.

Pitt built a 49-41 lead at 3:15 of the third quarter before the Irish rallied, setting up a back-and-forth finish.

The 12 points — on 4-of-4 3-point shooting — are a career high for Prapa, a sophomore guard from Greece, and her first double-digit game during her time with the Panthers. She also had three assists.