Tag: Pitt Panthers

Notre Dame: Women’s Basketball Nears .500 Mark With Victory at Pitt

Notre Dame flew out of the gate to start the second half, going on a 7-0 run, with five points coming from Destinee Walker.  An 8-0 run by Pitt later in the quarter kept things closer than anyone associated with the Irish would have liked, but ultimately they still took a 46-36 lead into the final frame.

The Notre Dame women’s basketball team (6-8, 1-1) kicked off 2020 with a 60-52 over now 3-10, Pitt. Destinee Walker helped lead the way with with sixteen points, five of which proved to be huge in the stretch run.

Mikki Vaughn tied her career high of 17 points and nearly earned a double-double with nine boards while Anaya Peoples earned her third double-double in the last four games with 10 points and 10 rebounds.

How It Happened

The opening quarter saw the teams play to an 8-8 draw before the Irish got off to a much quicker start in the second. Midway through the period, the Notre Dame offense found a little rhythm, recording a stretch in which they made 5-of-6 from the field to take a 24-18 lead before Peoples drained a jumper at the buzzer, to give the Irish a 30-22 halftime lead, in large part due to the 17 turnovers they forced in the first half.

Notre Dame flew out of the gate to start the second half, going on a 7-0 run, with five points coming from Walker.  An 8-0 run by Pitt later in the quarter kept things closer than anyone associated with the Irish would have liked, but ultimately they still took a 46-36 lead into the final frame.

A quick fourth quarter start for Pitt saw them cut the Irish lead to three before the Notre Dame weathered the storm and closed things out.  Leading by five with 23 seconds left, Walker came up big again with a crucial steal which translated to two Irish free-throws from Walker, as the grad transfer helped seal the victory.

The women return to the court Sunday afternoon when they’ll take on 7-6 Syracuse.

WATCH: Eastern Michigan QB Mike Glass III ejected after hitting official

Eastern Michigan QB Mike Glass III was ejected late in the Quick Lane Bowl for throwing punches, one that hit an official.

What looked like a thrilling end to the Quick Lane Bowl Thursday turned ugly when Eastern Michigan quarterback Mike Glass III was ejected from the game in the final seconds after throwing a couple punches, one clipping an official.

The incident happened moments after Pitt scored a touchdown to take a 34-30 lead.

There was an incomplete pass and Glass got into it with a Pitt player. He threw a punch at Cam Bright, then another one at Paris Ford, which hit the center judge who fell to the turf.

Glass was called for two unsportsmanlike conduct penalties and ejected. Gipson was flagged for one unsportsmanlike. The penalties offset and Eastern Michigan’s next play went for an incompletion that doused their hopes for victory.

Week 12 CFP Implications: Static at the top, chaos at the bottom

Looking at the national College Football Playoff picture after Week 12, a few things are becoming very clear. Let’s start at the top.

This past week, all 25 teams ranked by the CFP selection committee were in action. With so many games, a trend that has been slowly developing over the year came to full fruition.

We haven’t seen many upsets at the top of the game this year. And while we have seen some matchups of Top 15 teams–mostly involving Auburn or Michigan–we have yet to really see top teams get upset, or matchups between serious contenders. (Yes, we have had a few, most notably Alabama-LSU, but there have been far fewer than in most years.) That will change over the final few weeks of the season, whether due to scheduled matchups or conference championship games.

While there haven’t been many upsets at the top of the rankings. We’ve had plenty at this bottom. This past week, three of the committee’s teams ranked 19-25 lost, plus a pretty weak display from Cincinnati, for the second time in three weeks. Don’t be surprised if the committee drops the Bearcats a little after this performance.

What that leaves us with is essentially a two-tier ranking system. And while we can subdivide each tier further, the breakdown of the tiers will be very important.

The Top 17 teams are basically locked into those spots. LSU, Ohio State, Clemson, Georgia, Alabama, Oregon, Utah, Minnesota, Penn State, Oklahoma, Florida, Auburn, Baylor, Wisconsin, Michigan, Notre Dame, and Iowa will be the Top 17 teams from here on out. A shocking upset could knock one of these teams out, sure, and Baylor could fall out on its own by losing two of its final three games (to Texas and then again in the Big 12 Championship Game). Other than that Baylor case, though (and assuming no one does something crazy like lose to Northwestern or an FCS team), these 17 teams will be ranked the rest of the way, no matter what, and will like be the Top 17 the rest of the way.

From 18 on down, though, is anybody’s guess. We could see AAC teams stay in, though they’ve been less impressive as the season has gone on. Also, Cincinnati and Memphis still have to face each other. Appalachian State and Boise State can stay ranked by winning out, but one more loss will end any rankings the rest of the way. Maybe SMU slides back in this week.

After that, though, what’s left? What teams are we looking at to be ranked in the back section of the Top 25? Pitt, Virginia, and/or Virginia Tech could slide in, though Pitt plays Virginia Tech this week, and Virginia faces Virginia Tech next week, so only one of those three, at most, will likely be ranked by season’s end. Are we looking at Iowa State, with as impressive a four-loss resume as we’ve seen in a while?

17 teams have basically locked up their year-end rankings, with two weeks left in the regular season. The other eight spots in the Top 25, though, are entirely up for grabs. Who does this help most? Quite clearly, the Pac 12.

Next… How this helps the Pac 12

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Ohio State wrestling downs No. 15 Pitt on the road

The Ohio State wrestling team went on the road and took care of business against No. 15 Pitt Friday night, winning 23-12.

The No. 3 ranked Ohio State wrestling team traveled to No. 15 Pitt Friday night and came away with a 23-12 team victory to improve to 2-0 on the season in dual meets.

The Buckeyes won six of the ten bouts, with three of them scoring bonus points. No. 1 ranked Kolin Moore (197 lbs.), No. 1 ranked Luke Pletcher (141 lbs.) got major decisions, and No. 6 Sammy Sasso (149 lbs.) pinned his opponent.

Heavyweight Chase Singletary also impressed in his season debut, defeating the higher ranked No. 9 Demetrius Thomas of Pitt 8-3. Malik Heinselman at 125 lbs. and Kaleb Romero at 174 lbs. also scored decisions to give Ohio State the win.

The outcome was never really in doubt, with Ohio State winning five of the first six matches, but the Panthers did battle back to take four of the matches to keep things respectable and showed plenty of grit.

In the end it was a nice victory for the Buckeyes and they next take on No. 11 Virginia Tech (2-0) on Sunday back at home in the Covelli Center.