Grant helps Penn State upset Pitt

STATE COLLEGE, Pa. (AP) — Ursuline High graduate Tyra Grant had 27 points and Meredith Monroe added 14 points and 13 rebounds to lead Penn State to a 77-73 victory over No. 15 Pittsburgh on Saturday.

Nikki Greene added 12 points for Penn State (7-3) in its first win over a ranked foe since beating No. 11 Duke two years ago.

Shayla Scott had 17 points and Sophronia Sallard 15 for the previously unbeaten Panthers (8-1).

Julia Trogele hit a 3-pointer with just over 7 minutes left to put Penn State up 55-52. Grant extended the lead with a three-point play after getting fouled on a layup.

Pitt cut the deficit to 65-64 with 2:52 left after a 3 by Scott, but the Nittany Lions responded with 3s from Zhaque Gray and Trogele over the next minute to go up by seven. Penn State hit five 3s over the final 10 minutes.

“I’m happy for our kids because I think we needed a win where it came down to the wire,” Penn State coach Coquese Washington said. “We’ve talked about that as a team being able to finish off games and being able to finish off close games against tough opponents. It’s nice to be able to come out on the winning side of a close one.”

A back-and-forth first half featured six lead changes and five ties. Pitt’s largest lead came three minutes in when off bucket by Scott made it 8-2 before Grant and Alex Bentley scored a combined six points to tie the score.

The Nittany Lions’ biggest lead of the half came with three minutes left before intermission when they led 29-25.

The Panthers closed the half on an 8-1 run capped by two foul shots by Sallard to lead at 33-30 at halftime.

Grant, Penn State’s leading scorer on the season, was helped off the court with three minutes left after colliding with another teammate. She did return the final two minutes, but was running with a slight limp.

After the game, Grant said she tweaked her groin and back and doesn’t foresee it being an ongoing problem.

“It’s just something about me that wasn’t going to sit down and watch what was happening because they started to come back a little bit,” Grant said.

“I just thought to myself, Why sit there? I can push myself a little bit harder.”