Pittsburgh girls’s basketball coach Tory Verdi had a easy second-half message Sunday for his staff, which was getting completely blown out at dwelling towards SMU.
“I stored saying ‘battle,'” he mentioned.
His staff responded — in document style.
The Panthers — down by 32 factors within the first half, nonetheless down by 31 at intermission — tied the biggest comeback in NCAA girls’s basketball historical past, rallying to stun SMU 72-59 behind 22 factors from Mikayla Johnson and 21 from Khadija Faye.
The 32-point comeback tied the document set by Texas State on Feb. 18, 2006, when it trailed UTSA 40-8 late within the first half earlier than successful 73-71 in extra time.
“I got here in at halftime and mentioned, ‘I haven’t got any magic phrases and I haven’t got any magic performs,'” Verdi mentioned in an interview with The Associated Press. “We had been simply getting outworked; we had been getting outplayed. It was a optimistic, spirited dialog. I challenged them. We talked about satisfaction, having a way of satisfaction. And then basically I gave them a roadmap to get us again into the sport.”
It was one heck of a roadmap.
SMU led 46-14 late within the first half. From there, Pittsburgh completed the sport on a 58-13 run.
The Panthers (9-9, 1-4 Atlantic Coast Conference) missed their first 10 photographs of the sport and began 2-for-20 from the sector. SMU’s lead was 32-7 after one quarter, and the Mustangs pushed that out to the 32-point margin with 1:37 left within the half. Kylie Marshall‘s 3-pointer with 29 seconds left earlier than the break gave SMU a 49-18 lead.
The Mustangs did not rating once more for an extended … lengthy … lengthy whereas.
The third quarter: Pittsburgh 28, SMU 0. Johnson and Marley Washenitz opened the second half with 3-pointers for the Panthers, however they solely reduce the result in 25. Faye had six straight factors halfway by the third to get Pitt inside 15. Verdi began to listen to individuals whispering stats on press row because the comeback was occurring.
“I believe I used to be down in a defensive stance as effectively — and I do not get that low that always,” Verdi mentioned. “I simply was within the sport with them. I believe I had each fists like simply curled up. And I used to be like, ‘We acquired this, we acquired this.'”
Johnson’s 3-pointer with 9 seconds left within the third made it 49-46. MaKayla Elmore‘s 3-pointer to open the fourth for Pitt capped what was a 31-0 run that tied the sport.
SMU took the lead again twice within the early levels of the fourth, earlier than Washenitz’s jumper tied it at 54 and Elmore hit a 3-pointer with 4:55 left to place Pitt on high for good.
“Once the sport ended and as soon as I actually realized what occurred, it is wonderful,” Verdi mentioned. “But I’m simply so proud. I’m pleased with the gamers as a result of they made it occur. It’s not me. Our children did this, and so they deserve this.”
Inside the stats
Some stat nuggets from Pitt’s record-tying comeback:
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SMU shot 2-for-28 (7%) within the second half.
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Pittsburgh began 0-for-10 and 2-for-20 from the sector.
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SMU was 10-for-18 from the sector within the sport’s first 9 minutes. The Mustangs had been 5-for-44 from the sector within the closing 31 minutes.
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SMU missed its closing 21 photographs from 2-point vary. The Mustangs did not have a 2-point make within the closing three quarters; all 5 of their made baskets within the closing three quarters had been from past the 3-point arc.
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Pitt made 16 of its closing 24 photographs.
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SMU’s Nya Robertson had 21 factors within the first half, then simply two within the second half. The solely Mustangs participant with a subject objective within the second half was Zanai Jones; she was 2-for-10 in that span, and her teammates mixed to shoot 0-for-18 within the closing two quarters.
ESPN Research and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
