Pittsburgh held a slim 12-11 advantage at the 14:54 mark of the first half as Amy Kunich (Monroeville, Pa./Oakland Catholic) hit her second 3-pointer of the night. However, Rutgers went on a 16-3 run to take a 27-15 lead and eventually led by seven points, 38-31, at intermission.

The Panthers trimmed the Rutgers’ advantage to four points (38-34) as Katie Histed (Waverly, N.Y./Waverly) hit a quick 3-pointer to open the second half. Once again, the Scarlet Knights responded and extended its lead to as many as 17 points on two occasions in the last seven minutes of the game before holding on to the 15-point victory, their eighth straight over Pittsburgh in the series history.

Kunich and Latoya Kincaid (West Helena, Ark./Central) each tallied 14 points to lead the Panthers. Histed added 11 markers.

Pittsburgh shot 39 percent (18 of 46) from the field in the game and 71 percent (20 of 28) from the foul line. Rutgers, led by Cappie Pondexter’s game-high 21 points, hit 49 percent (32 of 65) of its field goals but just 47 percent (8 of 17) from the free-throw line.

Pittsburgh returns to action on Saturday as it hosts Georgetown at the Petersen Events Center. Game time is set for 2 p.m.

NOTES: Rutgers had 38 rebounds to the Panthers’ 29...Pittsburgh had 12 points in the paint while the Scarlet Knights finished with 34...Kincaid had a team-high seven rebounds for the Panthers and Kunich dished out four assists.