It may not be something that the Pittsburg State women’s basketball team will see a lot of as MIAA play begins next week, but it sure gave them fits on Saturday afternoon.
San Francisco Academy of Art used a stout 2-3 zone defense that forced the Gorillas to shoot just 36.6 percent (26 of 71) from the field in a 71-67 loss at the Dixie State Thanksgiving Tournament at St. George, Utah.
DePrice Taylor and Laura Glenn led the Gorillas (2-4) with 14 points a piece. Taylor scored all of her points in the last 5:14 of the game. Drew Roberts also scored in double figures with 10. Glenn led Pitt State on the glass with seven rebounds.
The Gorillas were down by 11 early in the first half, but a pair of 3-pointers from Amanda Orloske pulled Pitt State to within one, 22-21 with 16 minutes, 27 seconds left in the first half.
Urban Knights’ forward Ashleigh Frazier came off the bench and scored nine for Academy, but was held silent over the next four minutes while the Gorillas went on a 10-2 run to shave the lead down to one.
A 3-pointer from Lorraine Etchell bumped the Urban Knights’ lead back to 29-21.
Drew Roberts connected on bacl-to-back 3-pointers to answer, 31-27. But, the Gorillas had trouble from long distance as they were 5 of 14 after Roberts’ pair of treys with 3:34 left in the half.
A difference-maker in the first half was the fact that the Gorillas shot 0 of 5 from the free-throw line while the Urban Knights were 11 of 12.
Glenn quietly picked up her 11th point of the game on a lay-up and foul shot.
Roberts also came up with her third 3-pointer of the game in the second half to hold Academy’s lead at 6, 51-44 with 14:12 left in the game. The long-distance shot gave Roberts 12 points in the game.
The Gorillas found themselves down 64-53 late in the game, but Taylor hit a pair of back-to-back jumpers and Larissa Richards blocked an answer attempt by Jessica Nolan on the other end of the floor, as Pitt State cut the Academy lead to 5, 64-59.
Taylor kept up her flurry as she hit a lay-up and the subsequent free-throw to pull the Gorillas to within 2, 64-62. Taylor picked up nine straight points to pull Pitt State close. She tied the game, and picked up her 11th point of the game on another pair of free-throws.
But, it was Frazier that pulled the Urban Knights back out as she hit a traditional 3-point play after being fouled by Richards, putting Academy back up 69-64 with 1:30 left in the game. That gave Frazier 20 points for the game.
Jasmine English closed out the game for Academy as she hit a jumper and was fouled by Richards — who fouled out of the game.
Taylor hit a long 3-pointer — her 14th point in about five minutes in the second half — as the Gorillas cut the lead 71-67 with 3 seconds left in the game.
Matthew Clark can be reached at matthew.clark@morningsun.net or at 620-231-2600, Ext 140. Follow Morning Sun sports at twitter.com/mssports
ST. GEORGE, Utah —
