2-23-15

@thepittnews

Vol. 105Issue 119

Monday, February 23, 2015Pittnews.com

George Daly couldn’t sing well, his friends say, but he loved to anyway.

His favorite song to sing, according to his friends, was Frank Sinatra’s “New York, New York,” even though he hardly knew any of the words.

“It was a lot of mumbling the parts he didn’t know, and yelling the parts he did know,” Maura Barker, a sophomore and friend of Daly’s, said.

Now, Barker won’t be able to hear Daly sing. Police found Daly dead in his Ward Street apartment at 11:34 p.m. on Thursday, Feb. 12. Daly was a sophomore molecular biology major and a brother of Pi Kappa Alpha. He enjoyed playing baseball and basketball — according to his mother, Nancy Daly — and knew how to tear up a dance fl oor. Freshman year fl oormates thought of him as their “cap-tain,” but, above all, those closest to Daly called him a true friend.

Nancy Daly wrote in an email that George was not only an avid sports fan who enjoyed the beach, music and traveling, but he also had people surrounding him who loved him.

“George was uniquely blessed with a large posse of close friends and a loving family who, in turn, were made better by his presence,” Nancy Daly said.

A person’s life is measured best by the im-pact he has on others, George’s sister Genny Daly , said at his funeral on Saturday, according to Nancy Daly’s email.

“No words exist that can fully express George’s impact on those around him, whether it was a passing interaction or a deep friend-

Family, friends

honor late Pitt student

Lauren Rosenblatt Staff Writer

An all-female group of competitors paid hom-age to their Indian heritage through costumed dance and cultural stories.

On Saturday night, Natya, a Rutgers-based team and winner of the dance competition, told the story of the god Krishna’s birth, whose parents, according to Hindu religion, had su! ered the loss of seven other children at the hands of the evil ruler Kasma.

The Dhirana executive board and com-mittees of Pitt students and graduates hosted eight teams from across the country in a com-petition at Soldiers and Sailors on Saturday, Feb. 21. The all-female dancers — from Penn State, Johns Hopkins University and Univer-sity of California, Berkeley — wore traditional Indian garb, some of them in red dresses with metallic bells that jingled as they danced. Pitt’s dance team, Nrityamala, did not compete in

the event because they were acting as hosts, but did perform twice.

The event raised more than $8,000 for the Pittsburgh-based Birmingham Free Clinic, which provides free medical care to the unin-sured and underinsured in Pittsburgh.

Transforming from a wall of Kamsa’s angry guards, the women turned into a rhythmic ocean a moment later. The performers use facial expressions and hand gestures to act out stories that are specifi c to Hinduism, like the god Ganga’s descent to earth, as well as universal tales, like one about a young woman violated by a gang of men and shamed by her town.

Each team put on performances for an audience that fi lled roughly less than half the auditorium, which seats more than 2,000 people. Akshaya Arjunan, secretary of the Dhirana Executive Board, was not able to pro-vide an exact number of ticket sales by time of publication, she estimated the attendance was

about 800. A panel of eight judges, made up of professional dancers with extensive back-grounds, chose fi rst-, second- and third-place winners at the end of the night.

Akshaya Arjunan, secretary of the Dhi-rana executive board, said since sponsors — including Tamarind Flavor of India and the Outside the Classroom Curriculum — funded the program, Dhirana can donate 100 percent of the revenue from ticket sales to the Birmingham Free Clinic.

Clinical Director Mary Herbert was at the event to express her gratitude for the more than $16,000 Dhirana has donated in the past two years, which helped to purchase a new EKG machine.

The Dhirana board looked for a charity in the Pittsburgh area with a direct e! ect on Pittsburgh citizens and students.

Pitt group pays tribute to heritage, hosts

national competition

Elizabeth Lepro Staff Writer

Meghan Sunners | Staff Photographer

Daly 2Dhirana 3

2 February 23, 2015 | The Pitt News | www.pittnews.com

ship,” Genny said in a statement at the fu-neral. “Talking to him gave you confi dence in yourself and made you realize that there was always someone who saw the real you and accepted it.”

Summer Jiries, a sophomore chemical engineering major, lived on the same fl oor as Daly last year and the two became close friends. She said she loved Daly and often spent the night at his apartment. Earlier this month, she decided to take a picture of him sleeping when she awoke the next morning.

“It’s weird. I’ve seen him sleep a million times, but I decided to take a picture that time,” Jiries said.

She woke George up, told him she loved him and left his apartment.

Michael Knarr, one of Daly’s fl oormates freshman year, said he and the others en-dearingly referred to him as “fl oor captain.”

“George electrifi ed our lives with a blend of charisma, humor and kindness that lent light to the darkest of days,” Knarr, a sopho-more nursing major, said. “I will keep him

alive in both my heart and my memory, and I hope that everyone who knew him does the same.”

Daly held a special place in Mary Jacobs’ heart, too.

Jacobs met Daly during their sophomore year at Hunterdon Central Regional High School in Flemington, N.J. The two dated on and o! throughout high school and had remained close with him at Pitt.

Jacobs, a sophomore neuroscience major, turned to Daly whenever she was in need.

“I don’t have words for this stu! . Every day is like a new emotion that you’ve never felt before,” she said. “But they’re not all bad. Sometimes I’ll wake up and say to him [in my head], ‘You’re such a sh*thead.’ But then I’ll laugh about it because he’s sitting right there being like, ‘I know, Mary.’”

As they grieve, the University will provide counseling for any friends or classmates who desire it, according to spokesman John Fedele.

“The University community is saddened by George Daly’s passing, and our thoughts are with his family and friends right now,” said Kenyon Bonner, interim vice provost and dean of students.

While at Pitt, Daly continued to play

sports on his fraternity’s basketball team. Daly rushed Pi Kappa Alpha during his second semester at Pitt and joined the team right away. After he made the winning basket at the fi rst game, no one questioned his skill.

Jason Carne, one of Daly’s fraternity broth-ers, said Daly was the type of person that

everyone should have in their life. Carne and Daly pledged Pi Kappa Alpha

together in a small, tight-knit pledge class, which Carne says was one of the best experi-ences of his life because of Daly.

“George was a bit of a perfectionist and always tried to push the rest of us to not just

DALYFROM PAGE 1

George Daly is remembered by his family and friends. | Photo courtesy of Summer Jiries

3February 23, 2015 | The Pitt News | www.pittnews.com

“We wanted to pick a charity close and dear to us,” Dhirana co-director Rushi Patel said .

Dhirana emphasizes bringing classical In-dian dance into the next generation, according to Arjunan, a senior neuroscience major and a member of Pitt PantheRaas.

“Dhirana is making classical dance cool again,” the event’s program said.

This goal was visualized at Dhirana as in-

troductory performance videos fused hip-hop with Indian rhythm and students cheered from the balcony for their respective compet-ing schools and the night’s exhibition acts.

Rutgers University took home the fi rst-place trophy, while the University of Mary-land’s team, Moksha, won second. The Uni-versity of California, Berkeley took third place and an award for the “most traditional and classical elements” from the night’s leading sponsor, the Srinivasa Prasad International Foundation for the Performing Arts.

meet standards but exceed them,” Carne said. “He wasn’t the type to simply get through things. He wanted to excel in every aspect of his life and that rubbed o! on all of us.”

Carne said Daly was the fi rst to volunteer for the toughest jobs and was always the fi rst in line for community service and charity, which drove Daly to become president of his pledge class.

“I’ll be beyond grateful every day for the time I got to spend as his brother and as his friend,” Carne said.

Jacobs said Daly had a tendency to do “goofy things.”

Daly asked her to prom their senior year of high school. After receiving a text message from Daly instructing her to come outside, Jacobs opened her door to see him, standing in front of his car, blasting R. Kelly’s “Igni-tion (Remix)” and singing to her with a rose in his mouth.

“It was the most embarrassing thing I’ve ever seen, but that was him,” Jacobs said. She said yes to Daly’s prom proposal.

“Everyone will tell you he’s the goofi est kid,” Jacobs said. “At fi rst he’s quiet, but, once you get to know him, he’s really good at bring-ing groups of people together ... and he can always brighten your day.”

Austin Knight, one of Daly’s two room-mates, remembered Daly running down the hallways of Mark A. Nordenberg Hall, his residence hall freshman year, screaming various phrases out the windows, the most notable being “412” and “Pitt police protect and serve.”

Daly’s loud personality had a way of mak-ing friends feel welcome.

Barker said every time Daly greeted her, he opened his arms wide and screamed her name.

Vincent Leahey , Daly’s second roommate, described Daly as incredibly unselfi sh, “al-ways putting everybody’s else’s feelings before his, right up until the end.”

“[We] played the Powerball last week, and the fi rst thing I was going to do [if I won] was buy myself a car or something like that,” Lea-hey said. “But the fi rst thing [George] wanted to do was buy his dad a small plane because he had his pilot’s license.”

Jacobs’ fondest memories with Daly in-clude going to all of his baseball and basketball

games and hanging out after every single one, regardless of the game’s outcome.

After his death, Jacobs revisited the base-ball fi eld on which Daly used to play when she returned to their New Jersey hometown last weekend. She sat on the pitcher’s mound and talked to Daly.

“Whenever you talk to him, you don’t need an answer, because you know what he would say. [Now it’s about] getting used to the new him,” Jacobs said. “I don’t know what I believe, and I don’t know if he’s up there or down here, but I know he’s listening.”

DALYFROM PAGE 2

DHIRANAFROM PAGE 1

Read the rest online at Pittnews.com.

4 February 23, 2015 | The Pitt News | www.pittnews.com

PITT PARTIES FOR A CURE

Nate Smith | Staff Photographer

T his weekend, Pitt students hit the dance fl oor instead of their books for an all-nighter.

Pitt Dance Marathon lasted from noon on Saturday to noon on Sunday in the Cost Center. The annual fun-draiser is part of Greek Week, a se-ries of fundraising events that Pitt’s Greek Life has hosted since 2005. This year, participating groups raised $153,067.99 — more than the initial $100,000 goal and almost double last year’s total of roughly $82,000.

More than 50 teams, who col-lected funds from friends and family members through email and letter campaigns, as well as donor drives, participated in the dance marathon.

Songs like Beyoncé’s “XO” and Pharrell Williams’ “Happy” blasted during this year’s dance marathon, while students from various organi-zations danced, played games, talked with friends and cheered each other on.

The event was an all-in e! ort to support the Children’s Miracle Net-work Hospitals, an organization that collects funds to donate to children in hospitals across the nation. PDM’s donations will go toward research, training, medical equipment and un-compensated care, according to its website, at the Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh.

Each year, since its start in 2005, the event has gained more exposure , and organizers have tried to encour-age non-Greek a" liated organizations involved. This year, organizations such as the Black Action Society and Pitt Pathfi nders participated.

“We had a very big increase in people, especially from non-Greeks,” Villanueva said. “There was a big criti-cism of PDM, that it was only a Greek event, so we really wanted to get the

ground running on targeting the non-Greeks, and they came out in full force, especially the freshmen.”

This year, Villanueva credits the increase in non-Greek dancers and

moralers to PDM board’s e! orts in targeting freshmen who are looking to get involved on campus.

“I think it was more of us not un-derstanding that they were busy them-

selves. For the non-a" liated fresh-men, they come in the fall looking for things to do, so this is the fi rst year we hit it big during orientation week. I think that made the di! erence, tar-

geting the freshmen who were looking for something to do,” Villanueva said.

Villanueva said he and other mem-bers of PDM spent a year planning for the event, by making promotional vid-

eos, recruiting new dance marathon participants and fundraising.

“It can be stressful, but I’m really happy how everything turned out so far,” Villanueva said during PDM.

Ty Houy, a senior majoring in in-formation science, began attending PDM as a freshman. This year, she was the “Greek Week Overall,” responsible for “answering questions relating to all things Greek Week.”

Houy said she is passionate about supporting the Children’s Miracle Network.

“The foundation that we are donat-ing to is really a great opportunity. It lets the children have somewhat of a normal childhood, even though they’re in a hospital,” Houy said.

According to Andrew Villanueva, co-president of PDM, approximately 570 people registered, and most were non-Greek students. This marked an uptick from the 385 people registered who registered last year to participate, according to previous Pitt News re-porting. Villanueva said freshmen made up a large portion of non-Greek dancers and moralers.

Dancers raised at least $150 and committed to 24 hours on their feet as part of requirements. The long hours dancing can become tiring for partic-pants, so moralers register to attend the event to cheer fellow dancers on. Moralers have to raise a total of $125 and only dance for eight hour shifts, which ensures refreshed dancers on the dance fl oor ready to cheer the other dancers on, Houy said, who is a former moraler.

Lauren Nace, a junior majoring in communication and digital media, said dancing is the least she could do in support of kids who battle their whole lives with serious illnesses.

“I’m dancing because the kids have to struggle, sometimes their whole lives, so I can put in one night to help them out,” Nace said.

Nate Smith | Staff Photographer

Pitt Dance Marathon donations nearly double in 10th year, surpass goal

Aubrey CofieldStaff Writer

See more photos of the marathon at Pittnews.com.

5February 23, 2015 | The Pitt News | www.pittnews.com

OPINIONS!The Hunting Ground":

Shooting to expose college rape culture

EDITORIALEDITORIAL

While you may watch them as you curl up with popcorn and friends, documentaries can play a major role in shaping public opinion. Films such as “Super Size Me,” “An Inconvenient Truth” and “Miss Representation” have educated the public on the harmful e! ects of fast food, climate change and under-representation of women in the mainstream media, respectively.

“The Hunting Ground” is a new documentary that brings to light the epidemic of sexual assault at our nation’s colleges and univer-sities. The fi lm premiered at last month’s Sundance Film Festival and is scheduled to open in New York and Los Angeles on Feb. 27. Other cities will begin showing the fi lm on March 13.

Its trailer shows the struggle many women have faced in the wake of their assaults. The inter-views and stories from these vic-tims unite a group that too often remains silent and presents their stories in a poignant fashion. Its widespread viewing can encourage dialogue about areas many see as taboo or unfounded.

The documentary is making headlines for its inclusion of Erica Kinsman, the 20-year-old woman who said she was raped by Florida State Quarterback, Heisman Tro-phy winner and expected top NFL draft pick Jameis Winston.

Sexual assaults that don’t involve high-profi le athletes or names are just as important to understand and investigate, and the nation has recently grown

more attentive.In recent months, the Depart-

ment of Education’s civil rights o" ce has investigated more than 90 colleges and universities for possible Title IX violations.

These investigations are ben-efi cial to the advancement of so-cial justice. We can’t fully achieve this justice without a public that is more aware of continued injus-tice on our college campuses, most specifi cally concerning sexual as-sault.

A high quality, easily acces-sible documentary can play a role in educating the public.

“The Hunting Ground” is di-rected by Oscar-nominated fi lm-maker Kirby Dick, who directed the 2012 documentary “The Invis-ible War” about sexual assault in the U.S. military.

Media such as Dick’s documen-tary could inspire victims of sexual assault and injustice to come for-ward and be heard. If victims see they are not alone, perhaps they will feel more comfortable work-ing to prevent future injustices. Additionally, the public can learn from Dick’s documentary and be more sympathetic toward those violated and abused.

Although growing investiga-tions into Title IX violations on college campuses are helpful to victim justice, a documentary such as “The Hunting Ground” is essential to fostering signifi cant public understanding of a serious problem too prevalent on our cam-puses and in society.

COLUMNCOLUMNTNS

As a member of one of the small-est minorities in the U.S., Syrian, I resent the implications of a" rma-tive action. I have immense pride in my heritage, but I resent the notion that I am inept and need assistance to compete with other students because of my race.

I am not suggesting we do away with a" rmative action. I am pro-posing we reform it. The issue is not in race, but socioeconomics.

Earlier this month, attorneys for a former University of Texas applicant asked U.S. Supreme Court justices to reconsider race as a factor in college admissions.

Abigail Fisher, who is white, applied to the University of Texas, which denied her admission even though she met the University’s

merit standards, including grades and test scores. The Supreme Court of the United States heard her case, Fisher v. University of Texas, in 2013. This case paral-lels those at other schools, such as University of Michigan, Uni-versity of North Carolina and even Harvard.

Cases such as 2013’s Fisher v. University of Texas are advocat-ing the abolishment of a" rmative action. The solution, however, lies in reform, not abolition.

Race-based a" rmative action is an anachronism and has only created a greater disparity among students. Race-orientated a" r-mative action does not solve any issues of racism in our country, nor does it aid the students who need our help — those from dis-advantaged backgrounds.

Students who are from dis-

advantaged backgrounds actu-ally have an impediment that hinders their success, yet there are institutions that continue to focus on race, which takes away from the help they could give to socioeconomically underprivi-leged students.

Race-based a" rmative action also is counterproductive. We should hold all races to the same standard. Isn’t that real equality?

A" rmative action is hardly a modern concept, with roots from the Reconstruction period after the Civil War. After the federal government abolished slavery, it wanted to establish equal oppor-tunity for newly freed slaves. The practice re-emerged again in 1965 when President Johnson aimed to boost minority employment.

It’s time to move past race-based a! rmative action

Marlo Safi For The Pitt News

Safi 6

6 February 23, 2015 | The Pitt News | www.pittnews.com

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During this period, the government operated under an “even the playing fi eld” principle. This was imperative because of the clear and demonstrable e! ect of racism on the quality of minority education.

But, in 2015, this breed of a" rmative action is not e! ective, and colleges should shift their admission policy toward the stu-dents who need that help and would most likely not otherwise succeed. Holding all races to the same standard is, in fact, ben-efi cial to minorities.

Californians initiated Proposition 209 in 1996 to outlaw the discriminatory use of anyone’s race or gender in university admissions and employment, with opposi-tion predicting that minority enrollment in colleges would decline. These predic-tions were false, and the numbers of black and Hispanic students actually rose in the decade that followed. These students en-tered programs at schools of their academic abilities and achieved success. Bachelor’s degrees awarded to black students at Cali-

fornia State University increased by 42 percent and bachelor’s degrees earned by Hispanic students increased a staggering 95 percent, according to the National As-sociation of Scholars.

This data distinctly demonstrates that race-based a" rmative action is a policy designed for the ‘60s. Today, it can actually hinder the success of minority students who are placed in incompatible pro-grams.

Many cases like Fisher’s have ap-peared over the years and caused the emergence of groups like Students for Fair Admissions which believes that, “racial classifi cations and preferences in college admissions are unfair, unnecessary and unconstitutional.”

They believe in upholding every prin-ciple of the American civil rights movement and Constitution, and a" rmative action harms many students because of their race,

especially white and Asian-American stu-dents.

They have challenged the a" rmative action policies at Harvard and University of North Carolina, asserting their belief that diversity should be no excuse for racism. The vox populi of the left is that minorities cannot fl ourish on their own without af-

fi rmative action cra-dling them. Such an attitude is not just racist, but can be proved wrong by the Golden State itself.

Students from poverty-stricken or broken homes should be receiving this advantage, and basing admissions on class actually hits

two birds with one stone. According to the New York Times, with the socioeconomics-based policy that gave preference to stu-dents from impoverished or disadvantaged backgrounds, seven out of 10 schools were able to maintain or increase the number of black and Hispanic students.

This also di! uses the heat brought to the Supreme Court regarding a" rmative action. The Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment, which is the part of the 14th Amendment that guarantees every citizen equal protection under the law, is arguably infringed upon when students receive preferential treatment because of race . When shifting to prioritizing students from disadvantaged backgrounds, there is no breach in law.

We live in a country that prides itself on equal opportunity, where hard work and merit are the ingredients to success and where we are supposed to be colorblind in this endeavor. A" rmative action based on race was critical 50 years ago, but now colleges should use it to help those students from impoverished backgrounds who oth-erwise may not thrive.

We should aim to fi nally realize the principles our Constitution and civil rights movement are supposed to stand for that all people are created equally — and we must apply this in practice.

Marlo Safi primarily writes about poli-tics and public policy for The Pitt News.

Email Marlo at [email protected]

SAFIFROM PAGE 5

I am not suggesting we do away with affirmative action. I am proposing we

reform it.

7February 23, 2015 | The Pitt News | www.pittnews.com

SPORTS

TROY REAGHARD DROPPED HIS BOUT AFTER MOVING UP TWO WEIGHT CLASSES.NATE SMITH | STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

WRESTLINGWRESTLING

The West Virginia wrestling team traveled only 77 miles from Morgantown to Pitts-burgh to add on to a disappointing season for the Pitt wrestling team.

After falling to the No. 15 Michigan Wolverines earlier in the weekend, the Panthers (8-8, 2-3 ACC) closed out their dual season with a 24-14 loss to the rival West Virginia Mountaineers (9-9) in the “Backyard Brawl” at the Fitzgerald Field House on Sunday.

Beginning at 149 pounds, Pitt sopho-more No. 20 Mikey Racciato quickly got the Panthers on the board, dominating West Virginia’s Roman Perryman and earning a 13-4 major decision.

At 157, the “Brawl” came to life as Pitt sent out redshirt junior Ronnie Garbinsky to take on West Virginia’s Brutus Schef-fel. A highly contested 1-0 match became

the subject of much debate when Pitt head coach Jason Peters asked for a review during a third period takedown by Sche! el.

A lengthy review went back and forth between the Pitt and West Virginia crowds and ended with the o" cial awarding one point to Garbinsky due to a holding viola-tion by Sche! el, making the score 3-2 in favor of Sche! el.

“The crowd defi nitely got involved in the end,” Garbinsky said. “I heard them chanting, and it defi nitely helps. It takes your mind o! being tired.”

With a little extra motivation from the crowd, Garbinsky escaped from Sche! el’s grasp during the fi nal moments of the third, forcing an overtime period.

After keeping Sche! el down during the entirety of the fi rst overtime period, Garb-inksy started the second period on bottom and escaped only seven seconds in. How-ever, due to a clock malfunction, the buzzer stopped action after the escape, sending the

crowd into another frenzy. Garbinsky recovered and held Schef-

fel at bay during the fi nal 23 seconds of the second overtime period and earned himself a victory.

On Pitt’s Senior Day , redshirt senior No. 8 Tyler Wilps quickly reminded the Pan-thers of his dominance over the course of his career. Wilps easily dissected West Vir-ginia redshirt freshman Parker VonEgidy at 174 pounds and ended his dual career with a major decision.

Despite it being his last home dual match, not much changed in terms of prepa-ration for Wilps.

“I went out there expecting to win, as I do most matches, and I got it,” he said.

Nevertheless, he admitted that his last home dual match felt a little di! erent.

“It hasn’t really settled in,” Wilps said. “But, at the same time, it was exciting. I had fun out there.”

Pitt redshirt senior Troy Reaghard

couldn’t follow up the big win with one of his own. Reaghard had a di" cult task , wres-tling up two weight classes for No. 2 redshirt senior, Max Thomusseit, who was out with an injury precaution . Reaghard battled for the match’s entirety, but could not do much against a much bigger wrestler, eventually yielding a 9-2 decision.

The 11-6 score in favor of Pitt would be its last lead of the day, as West Virginia sophomore Jake Smith wasted no time in disposing of Pitt redshirt junior Nick Bonac-corsi, earning a fall early in the fi rst period and giving West Virginia a 12-11 advantage.

After the fall, much like Reaghard, Pe-ters also had to send out redshirt freshman Ryan Solomon to wrestle above his weight class. Solomon, who typically wrestles at 197 pounds but is asked to wrestle up on occasion, was the crowd favorite during a modifi ed David and Goliath rematch with

Backyard wrestlingWest Virginia tops Pitt in latest “brawl”

Logan Hitchcock Staff Writer

Wrestling 10

8 February 23, 2015 | The Pitt News | www.pittnews.com

T P NS U DO K U

Today’s di! culty level: Very HardPuzzles by Dailysudoku.com

WOMEN’S BASKETBALLWOMEN’S BASKETBALL

The Pitt’s women’s basketball team lost its luck and the lead shortly after halftime in the Carrier Dome.

Pitt, which led No. 25 Syracuse by six points at the half, went on to make only fi ve more baskets en route to a 68-54 loss. The poor second-half shooting performance doomed the Panthers (18-9, 8-6 ACC) against No. 25 Syracuse on Sunday afternoon, as the Orange outscored the visitors 33-13 after halftime.

Pitt shot 51.5 percent from the fi eld in the fi rst half, but shot 17.9 percent in the second half. Uncharacteristically, Brianna Kiesel did not lead Pitt in scoring.

The senior point guard scored 11 points, while graduate student forward Monica Wignot paced the team with 14 points. Kie-sel shot only one of seven from 3-point range and recorded three assists compared to four turnovers.

As a team, Pitt turned the ball over 19 times, while Syracuse only committed 13 turn-overs .

Pitt shadowed Syra-cuse (20-8, 10-5 ACC) closely to open up the second half, after lead-ing 41-35 at halftime. But an 8-0 Orange run with eight minutes left in the game gave the home team a 56-50 lead it would not relinquish.

Junior guard Brianna Butler led Syracuse with 19 points, but it was sophomore center Bri-ana Day who troubled the Panthers most .

Day scored 15 points and grabbed a game-high 18 rebounds, nine of which came o!

the offensive glass. She also was the only player to stay in the game for all 40 minutes and added fi ve blocks and three steals.

Freshman forward Stasha Carey, who con-tributed much of Pitt’s interior scoring, fouled out of the game. She was the only Panther to record double-digit rebounds with 11.

Though the lead changed 11

times over the course of the game, most of the

fl ip-fl opping came in a back-and-forth fi rst half. The Orange used several short scoring runs to slowly pull away from the Panthers.

Two separate 8-0 runs in the second half and an extended 12-6 run over the fi nal seven minutes of the game iced the win for the home team.

Much of Pitt’s late struggles came from its ine" ciency on o! ense. Only one Panther shot even 50 percent from the fi eld — Wignot, who made six of her 12 shots. Carey shot only four of 10 and freshman guard Aysia Bugg made one of her fi ve shots in the game.

Pitt’s shooting struggles also extended to the free throw line. The team shot only 42.9 percent from the line as a team, compared to Syracuse’s 64 percent.

While Pitt is still in the running for an NCAA tournament spot — many projections currently have the Panthers in the tourna-ment — a win in its next game would go a long way toward sealing that slot.

The team next travels to South Bend to take on No. 4 Notre Dame on Thursday.

Poor second-half shooting costs Pitt game at No. 25 ‘CuseChris Puzia Sports Editor

Monica Wignot scored 14 points on Sunday.Alyson Derrick | Staff Photographer

9February 23, 2015 | The Pitt News | www.pittnews.comMEN’S BASKETBALLMEN’S BASKETBALLBASEBALLBASEBALL

In its second weekend of play , Pitt’s base-ball team lost two out of three games in the Wo! ord-USC Upstate Tournament to drop its record to 2-4 on the year.

The Panthers had an inconsistent o! en-sive display for the second straight weekend, scoring 10 runs in their lone win against the University of South Carolina Upstate, but only totaling seven in the other two games.

The 2-4 start is a stark contrast to how the team began last season, as it went 4-2 against seemingly tougher opponents.

Pitt head coach Joe Jordano sent sta! ace to the pound against Wo! ord, as he looked for his second win of the year.

T.J. Zeuch continued his strong pitch-ing from his last outing, giving up only two earned runs and striking out eight over seven innings. Unfortunately for the sophomore righty, the Panthers didn’t give him much support, scoring only three runs.

Sophomore outfi elders Jacob Wright and Nick Yarnell led the way o! ensively for Pitt, with one hit and an RBI apiece. The lineup’s production was top-heavy on Friday, as the fi rst fi ve hitters reached base, while only one of the bottom four recorded a hit.

Senior Hobie Harris came on in relief for Zeuch and walked three batters in less than an inning of work. Relief pitching may be a concern for this Pitt team, especially after losing several of its sta! to graduation and the MLB.

The team woke up from its o! ensive slumber on Saturday, beating USC Upstate 10-4. Senior outfi elder Boo Vazquez started the scoring in the fi rst inning, stroking a double into right fi eld to give Pitt a 1-0 lead.

After the fi rst two innings, the teams were tied after trading runs in every frame.

Panthers drop two more in

slow startMark Powell Staff Writer

Chris Jones apparently did not take his role o! the bench lightly.

Jones, the sophomore guard who start-ed earlier in the year when senior guard Cameron Wright was still recovering from a foot injury, hit fi ve of his six 3-point at-tempts and scored 19 total points. The e! ort helped the Pitt men’s basketball team (18-10, 7-7 ACC) win in the Carrier Dome and keep its NCAA tournament hopes alive.

“[ Jones] is our best shooter,” Pitt head coach Jamie Dixon said after the game. “You need some guys to make some shots to get in the zone, and we have confi dence in him.”

Jones’ strong play on Saturday has con-tinued a recent trend in Pitt’s success: the sophomores.

Sophomore forwards Jamel Artis, Mi-chael Young and Sheldon Jeter, along with Jones and guard Josh Newkirk, have all made signifi cant contributions in Pitt’s recent NCAA Tournament push.

Artis, specifi cally, has grabbed Panther fans’ attention by force this year, notably with his career-high 32 points in a win over Bryant on Feb. 2.

After playing limited reserve minutes early in the season, Jeter has continued to earn more playing time, as he started in Saturday’s game. One of Jeter’s best games of the season came on Feb. 7 when Pitt hosted Syracuse, and the Vanderbilt transfer scored 18 points in 23 minutes o! the bench.

Young also had a strong game on Sat-urday, as he consistently matched up with the Orange’s best player, senior center Ra-keem Christmas, who leads the team with 18 points and nine rebounds per game.

Christmas still fi nished with 20 points and 12 rebounds, but Young hung with him o! ensively, scoring 14 points of his own.

In fact, Pitt’s top three point totals on Saturday all came from sophomores, as Jones, Artis and Young chipped in 19, 16 and 14, respectively. Five of Pitt’s top seven scorers are sophomores, when Jeter and Newkirk enter the equation. Artis leads

Pitt with 13.1 points per game.Jones, who shoots 38 percent from

3-point range, also received praise from Syracuse head coach Jim Boeheim after the game, though the coach attributed Jones’ success to defensive struggles.

“He really hurt us down there,” Boeheim said. “We just let him have those open shots in the fi rst half and enabled him to get control of the game.”

Dixon typically would expect better production from the rest of his bench — the other three Panthers who saw the court totaled 13 minutes between them — but Jones’ hot shooting kept him, and his team, in the game.

“[ Jones] was terrifi c o! the bench,” Dixon said. “I thought we had great perfor-

Jones! production off bench sparks PittChris Puzia Sports Editor

Chris Jones shot 5 of 6 from 3-point range in Saturday’s win over Syracuse Jeff Ahearn | Assistant Visual Editor

Baseball 10M Hoops 10

10 February 23, 2015 | The Pitt News | www.pittnews.com

E S T A B L I S H E D 1 9 1 0

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Movingoving

Mountaineerst i

Since their last football face-off in 2011, Pitt and West Virginia have continued their “Backyard Brawl” in other sports. The results have been consistent:

Football, 11/25/11Football, 11/25/11

Men’s Basketball, 2/16/12Men’s Basketball, 2/16/12

Women’s Basketball, 2/27/12Women’s Basketball, 2/27/12

Baseball, 4/1/14Baseball, 4/1/14

Wrestling, 2/22/15Wrestling, 2/22/15

West Virginia’s A.J. Vizcarrondo at the 285-pound weight class.

Solomon came up just shy, losing 2-1 by virtue of a riding time advantage for Vizcarrondo.

Following Solomon’s loss, Pitt dropped

the 125-pound bout by major decision, the team’s fourth consecutive loss. Pitt trailed West Virginia 19-11 with only two matches left and needed bonus points via major de-cision or fall during the fi nal two to have a chance at winning the dual.

After getting a victory at 133 pounds from redshirt freshman Nick Zanetta, Pitt needed a fall from freshman Ben Ross at 141 pounds in order to secure a victory for

the team.However, West Virgina’s No. 16 Michael

Morales overmatched Ross, losing by tech-nical fall, making the fi nal team score 24-14 in favor of the Mountaineers.

“We gave up too many bonus points throughout the day,” Peters said. “We’re missing some pieces, but we have to get better.”

The Panthers, after winning

their fi rst eight ACC matches, have now lost three conference matches in a row. The team still will host the ACC Champi-onships, where they look to defend their ACC Championship title from last year. The tournament will take place at the Petersen Events Center on Sunday, March 8.

WRESTLINGFROM PAGE 7

The game would remain close until the eighth inning, when Pitt scored four runs to give the team a lead it would not relinquish.

Junior Aaron Schnurbusch led the way o" ensively, going four for four from the plate in front of sophomore catcher Manny Pazos, who drove home two of the Panthers’ 10 runs.

Pitchers Aaron Sandefur and Matt Pidich combined for the win. Sandefur gave up four runs over eight innings and struck out seven, while Pidich picked up his fi rst win of the sea-son with three innings of shutout relief.

Despite an inspired o" ensive e" ort on Saturday, Pitt was on the receiving end of a 10-4 beating on Sunday against an impressive East Tennessee State team.

Wright got the Panthers o" to a good start

with a base hit and a run scored in the fi rst in-ning. The Pitt outfi elder has recorded at least one hit in every game he’s played this season.

While Pitt pitchers gave up 10 runs on Sun-day, only six of those were earned because of two errors in the fi eld.

Schnurbusch, who went 4-4 from the plate on Saturday, could not replicate that e" ort on the mound, giving up seven hits and two runs over three-plus innings.

Vazquez had two hits and drove in half of the Panther runs, but the two batters behind him failed to record a hit in seven at bats, leaving three men on base.

The loss has set Pitt o" to a mediocre start to the season, with far more important games creeping into view. The Panthers face o" against Virginia Commonwealth Univer-sity next weekend and then make a trip to Charlottesville to play College World Series runner-up Virginia .

BASEBALLFROM PAGE 9

mances o" the bench from all of our guys, considering the foul trouble we had early and late throughout the game.”

The four main contributing sopho-mores on Saturday — Artis, Jones, Jeter

and Young — all shot the ball e! ciently as well. Each player made more than 50 percent of his shots, as Jones shot a hyper-e! cient 7 of 10 from the fi eld.

Whether or not Pitt makes the NCAA Tournament, the recent play of these sophomores has been encouraging for Pitt fans hoping for greater success with the team in the future .

M HOOPSFROM PAGE 9

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