HARTFORD, Conn. – Despite a career-high 27 points from sophomore Danielle Taylor, Pittsburgh’s women’s basketball team suffered a 77-68 decision to West Virginia in the opening round of the Big East Tournament. The Panthers ended the season with a 13-15 overall record (5-11 in the Big East).

Taylor hit 8-of-16 shots from the field while playing the entire game. She drilled four 3-pointers and pulled down six rebounds.

Vika Sholokhova added 14 points and seven rebounds and Allisha Morris posted 12 points and five rebounds.

Pittsburgh opened with a five-point lead (11-6) early in the game as Taylor scored seven of the points. The score was knotted at 17-17 midway through the half before West Virginia went on a 10-2 run over the next three minutes to grab a 27-19 advantage.

The Panthers trailed 37-30 at the half despite shooting just 29 percent from the field. The Mountaineers shot 52 percent from the field in the half and made 5-of-6 shots from behind the arc.

In the second half, West Virginia began on a 13-2 spurt to take a 50-32 lead with 14:28 remaining in the game. Just when it looked like Pittsburgh was down and out, the Panthers came back to pull within nine points on two free throws from Sholokhova at the 9:50 mark.

Pittsburgh eventually pulled to within in seven points with just over two minutes left, but could not any closer.

For the game, the Panthers shot 31 percent (19 of 62) from the field and 82 percent (22 of 27) from the foul line. West Virginia hit 45 percent of its field goals.

NOTES: Taylor had her second straight 20-point game after posting 20 against Providence in the season finale…Jennifer Brown pulled down a game-high 13 boards.