The Binghamton women’s basketball team fell short to Pitt 61-56 on Sunday afternoon, dropping its third straight game. After trailing by 11 late in the third quarter, the Bearcats went on a 14-3 run through the third and fourth quarters to tie the game, but they ultimately fell short of completing the comeback.

“I’m definitely proud,” said Binghamton head coach Mary Grimes. “We talked about having some grit, having some fight … I think we rebounded from our Cornell loss and did a lot of the little things that it takes to even be in this game.”

Following traded possessions between the foes, a shooting foul from redshirt junior guard Jadyn Weltz allowed Pitt (3-1) to take an early 2-0 lead, but a driving layup from sophomore guard Leah Middleton knotted it up at 2-2 for Binghamton (2-3). BU’s defense was able to hold Pitt to just eight points, and a seven-point first quarter from Middleton took the Bearcats into the second period of play with a 12-8 lead over the visitors.

“They’re responding,” Grimes said. “We talked about being able to punch first, and get after them right away, and how that would settle [Pitt] down.”

The Bearcats opened the second quarter with two free throws from Middleton and a stepback jumper by Weltz to grow their lead to 16-8. The Panthers, however, would hit two consecutive three-pointers to cut BU’s lead down to one at 17-16. Despite timely layups from sophomore guard Yanniah Boyd and sophomore forward Kendall Bennett later in the quarter, the Panthers’ 5-for-7 shooting splits from three-point range powered them to a 25-24 lead over the Bearcats heading into the half.

“I think we handled their pressure and their press from the start very well,” Grimes said. “We talked about point guard by committee … I think we all just did a great job of being confident against their press and their pressure, and just finding an open teammate.”

Pitt was quick to build its lead with a layup in its first possession coming out of halftime, but Weltz immediately responded with a jumper to get BU within one. The Bearcats were able to go tit for tat with the Panthers, knotting the score at 30-30, but a 14-5 run in the middle of the quarter allowed Pitt to build a comfortable 46-35 lead with just under a minute to play in the period. In BU’s final possession of the quarter, signs of a Bearcat comeback began to appear, as junior guard Kaia Goode hit a three-pointer to make it 46-38 going into the fourth.

“In close games, this [experience] is going to help us out down the road,” Grimes said. “’How do we execute?’ Whether we are fouling, or calling timeouts. I think that’s something we are going to grow from at the end of the day.”

The Bearcats opened the fourth quarter on an 8-2 run. This began with a three-pointer from sophomore guard Kaylee Krysztof, which brought the Bearcats’ deficit to 46-41. Two minutes later, a layup from Middleton and another Kyrsztof three-pointer made it 48-46. Pitt responded by going 1-for-2 on free-throw attempts while a third consecutive three-pointer followed by a jumper from Kyrsztof tied the game at 51-51. Then, the Bearcats allowed Pitt to go on a 5-0 run, entering the final two minutes of play down 56-51. The foes traded several free throws to end the game as BU fell just short of completing its attempted comeback, losing 61-56.

“I think we kind of got lucky because they kept running the same sets over and over again,” Grimes said. “We were able to adjust, and kudos to the assistant coaches they were on it.”

Kyrsztof led the Bearcats, tying a career-high of 15 points, while Middleton and Weltz each added 11. Binghamton won the turnover battle 25-14, aided by its 10-4 lead in steals over the visitors. Weltz nearly out-stole the Panthers herself, snagging a season-high five on the night.

“No quit,” Weltz said. “We came together and we knew we had a lot of fight left to give in that game, and so we did just that, and it was exciting to be a part of and exciting to watch.”

Binghamton will continue its nonconference slate against Long Island University on Friday, Nov. 22. Tipoff is set for 6 p.m. at the Steinberg Wellness Center in Brooklyn, New York.