Saturday, December 29
Pittsburgh, Pa.
2 PM
Pitt
9-5
66
at
58
Duquesne
5-7
1
2
3
4
F
Pitt
17
11
20
18
66
Duquesne
18
8
22
10
58
Panthers Run The City; Pitt Posts 66-58 Triumph Over Duquesne
12/29/2018 5:45:00 PM | Women's Basketball
PITTSBURGH – For the first time since 2013, the University of Pittsburgh women's basketball team (9-5, 0-0 ACC) earned a win in the City Game against the Duquesne Dukes on Saturday afternoon inside the Palumbo Center by the score of 66-58. The win gives the Panthers three straight wins to close out non-conference play and its first win at Duquesne since 2008.
"I thought we had a great team win today," said first-year head coach Lance White. "I am really excited for our seniors to win this City Game for the first time. It's always good to see our team fight back and finish a game strong like we did today."
The Panthers defense was the difference in the game on Saturday as they held the Dukes to just 32.4% (22-for-68) from the floor and 18.5% (5-for-27) from behind the arc. The Panthers also turned 12 Duquesne turnovers into 12 points.
Junior Jasmine Whitney led the way for Pitt as she finished the best game of her career with a career-high 23 points, six assists, four rebounds and two steals while going 3-for-4 from behind the arc and 8-for-8 from the charity stripe. Joining Whitney in double figures was senior Cassidy Walsh who netted 14 points while Cara Judkins came off the bench and notched her first career double-double with 10 points and 11 boards in the win.
The first quarter was a quarter of runs for both sides as the Panthers were able to race out to the 9-0 lead as Kauai Bradley opened the scoring with a triple and a layup and Danielle Garven capped the run with a reverse layup. The Dukes came right back with seven straight before Whitney knocked down back-to-back triples to give Pitt the 17-9 lead. Duquesne then made another run of their own as they ended the quarter on a 9-0 spurt to take the 18-17 lead into the second quarter.
The Panthers regained the lead early in the second quarter as Kyla Nelson entered the game and drained back-to-back triples to give Pitt the 23-20 lead just over three minutes into the second. The Dukes were able to respond with a 6-2 run over the next five minutes to take the 26-25 lead before Judkins closed out the scoring in the half with a contested layup to give the Panthers the 28-26 lead through 20 minutes.
The third quarter didn't start how the Panthers would've liked it to as the Dukes were able to race out to a nine-point lead, 43-34, midway through the quarter. Pitt however, never faltered as they were carried by Walsh and Whitney down the stretch of the third quarter to tie the game, 48-48, heading into the final frame. Whitney netted seven and Walsh scored five across the final five minutes of the third to tie things up for the Panthers and give them the much needed momentum.
With the emotions running high, the Panthers were able to take control of the game midway through the final quarter thanks to senior Cassidy Walsh. The Pittsburgh native, who had never won a City Game, was able to extend the Panthers lead out to 58-52 with back-to-back three-pointers, forcing the Dukes to take a timeout. With all of the momentum on their side, the Panthers were able to put the game on ice across the final couple minutes with a stifling defensive effort that forced the Dukes to go just 4-for-17 in the final frame to secure the win.
Garven finished off her afternoon with seven points and five boards while Bradley netted five points, three steals and two rebounds across 23 minutes of work. Kalista Walters made her third start of the season and grabbed six rebounds and two steals across 21 minutes of work.
Pitt wraps up non-conference play with a 9-5 record, their most non-conference wins since 2016-17 when they also won nine games. The Panthers will return to the court on Thursday, Jan. 3 as they open up ACC play with a road game against nationally ranked Notre Dame at 7:00 pm inside the Purcell Pavilion.
PITT NOTES
Team
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"I thought we had a great team win today," said first-year head coach Lance White. "I am really excited for our seniors to win this City Game for the first time. It's always good to see our team fight back and finish a game strong like we did today."
The Panthers defense was the difference in the game on Saturday as they held the Dukes to just 32.4% (22-for-68) from the floor and 18.5% (5-for-27) from behind the arc. The Panthers also turned 12 Duquesne turnovers into 12 points.
Junior Jasmine Whitney led the way for Pitt as she finished the best game of her career with a career-high 23 points, six assists, four rebounds and two steals while going 3-for-4 from behind the arc and 8-for-8 from the charity stripe. Joining Whitney in double figures was senior Cassidy Walsh who netted 14 points while Cara Judkins came off the bench and notched her first career double-double with 10 points and 11 boards in the win.
The first quarter was a quarter of runs for both sides as the Panthers were able to race out to the 9-0 lead as Kauai Bradley opened the scoring with a triple and a layup and Danielle Garven capped the run with a reverse layup. The Dukes came right back with seven straight before Whitney knocked down back-to-back triples to give Pitt the 17-9 lead. Duquesne then made another run of their own as they ended the quarter on a 9-0 spurt to take the 18-17 lead into the second quarter.
The Panthers regained the lead early in the second quarter as Kyla Nelson entered the game and drained back-to-back triples to give Pitt the 23-20 lead just over three minutes into the second. The Dukes were able to respond with a 6-2 run over the next five minutes to take the 26-25 lead before Judkins closed out the scoring in the half with a contested layup to give the Panthers the 28-26 lead through 20 minutes.
The third quarter didn't start how the Panthers would've liked it to as the Dukes were able to race out to a nine-point lead, 43-34, midway through the quarter. Pitt however, never faltered as they were carried by Walsh and Whitney down the stretch of the third quarter to tie the game, 48-48, heading into the final frame. Whitney netted seven and Walsh scored five across the final five minutes of the third to tie things up for the Panthers and give them the much needed momentum.
With the emotions running high, the Panthers were able to take control of the game midway through the final quarter thanks to senior Cassidy Walsh. The Pittsburgh native, who had never won a City Game, was able to extend the Panthers lead out to 58-52 with back-to-back three-pointers, forcing the Dukes to take a timeout. With all of the momentum on their side, the Panthers were able to put the game on ice across the final couple minutes with a stifling defensive effort that forced the Dukes to go just 4-for-17 in the final frame to secure the win.
Garven finished off her afternoon with seven points and five boards while Bradley netted five points, three steals and two rebounds across 23 minutes of work. Kalista Walters made her third start of the season and grabbed six rebounds and two steals across 21 minutes of work.
Pitt wraps up non-conference play with a 9-5 record, their most non-conference wins since 2016-17 when they also won nine games. The Panthers will return to the court on Thursday, Jan. 3 as they open up ACC play with a road game against nationally ranked Notre Dame at 7:00 pm inside the Purcell Pavilion.
PITT NOTES
Team
- With the win over Duquesne, Pitt improves to 21-16 overall in the all-time series but is their first win in their last five tries.
- Pitt closes out their non-conference schedule with a 9-5 record, marking the most non-conference victories since the 2016-17 campaign when they posted nine as well.
- The Panthers improved to 8-0 on the year when scoring at least 60 points and 8-0 when they shoot a higher percentage from the floor than their opponent.
- After winning the rebounding battle for the third straight game, 42-41, Pitt improved to 7-1 on the year when grabbing more rebounds than their opponent.
- The Panthers outscored the Dukes 16-12 in points in the paint as they improved to 9-2 this season when scoring more points down low than their opponent.
- Pitt had three players score in double figures for the third straight game.
- The Panthers had a 20+ point scorer for the second straight game, marking the first time this season they have done so.
- Earned her 11th straight start at point guard
- Finished off her afternoon with a career-high 23 points, six assists, four rebounds and two steals in the win.
- She has recorded double figures in scoring six times this season
- Dished out six assists, marking her eighth game this season with four or more helpers
- Played 34 minutes and has played 30+ minutes six times this season
- She is the lone Panther to start all 14 games this season
- Finished off her afternoon with 14 points and three rebounds while going 3-for-5 from behind the arc in the win
- Has now scored in double figures a team-high nine times this season
- Has connected on at least one three pointer in seven straight games for the Panthers
- Played 31 minutes and has now played 30+ minutes a career-high nine times this season
- The sophomore came off the bench and produced her first career double-double as she netted 10 points and grabbed 11 rebounds in the win
- Has scored in double figures four times this season including in three of her last four games
- Grabbed double digit rebounds for the second time this season
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Team Stats
UP
DUQ
FG%
.386
.324
3FG%
.600
.185
FT%
.684
.692
RB
42
41
TO
15
12
STL
8
5
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
23
FGM
6
3FGM
3
FTM
8
Pts
14
FGM
5
3FGM
3
FTM
1
Pts
10
FGM
4
3FGM
0
FTM
2
Pts
7
FGM
3
3FGM
0
FTM
1
Players Mentioned
Forward
/ Women's BasketballForward
/ Women's BasketballCenter
/ Women's Basketball
Guard
/ Women's BasketballGuard
/ Women's Basketball
Center
/ Women's BasketballGuard
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