Pitt Hits The Road For ACC Tilt At #8 NC State On Thursday

PITTSBURGH – The Pitt women's basketball team (9-6, 0-1 ACC) will hit the road for another tough ACC test on Thursday night as they travel to Raleigh, NC to take on #8 NC State at 7:00 pm inside Reynolds Coliseum. The Wolfpack are the second straight top-10 team the Panthers have faced to open up their conference slate.

HOW TO FOLLOW

Thursday's game at #8 NC State will broadcast live on ACC Network Extra and may be viewed on WatchESPN/WatchESPN app.
Fans can tune into 1320 AM WJAS for the Pitt IMG Sports Network broadcast of the game, with Josh Rowntree on the call. Fans can also listen online at PittsburghPanthers.com.
Live stats of the game can be found on PittsburghPanthers.com.
Follow the team on Twitter for updates throughout the game and a behind-the-scenes look.

STORYLINES

Pitt is in search of their first ACC win of the season and their 10th win overall on the year, a number that would match last season's win total for the Panthers.
The Panthers will be facing their second straight top-10 opponent on Thursday, marking the first time since joining the ACC that Pitt has opened up their conference slate with two top-10 opponents.
When the Pitt offense is able to score at least 60 points this season, they own a perfect 8-0 record.

LAST TIME OUT

The Panthers (9-6, 0-0 ACC) opened up ACC play on the road against the defending national champions, Notre Dame, and were handed a 100-44 defeat.
Pitt wasn't able to get anything going offensively in the ACC opener as they shot just 26.6% from the floor while committing 24 turnovers in the loss.
Junior point guard Jasmine Whitney once again led the Panthers in scoring as she netted nine points, four assists and two steals in the loss.
Making her 15th straight start, senior Cassidy Walsh netted six points while senior Kalista Walters came off the bench and netted four points and a team-high nine rebounds.
As a team, the Panthers were outscored inside the paint 40-18 while also losing the rebounding battle, 49-36.

SCOUTING THE WOLFPACK

The NC State Wolfpack moved up to #8 in the national rankings this week after posting a pair of victories to open up ACC play. The Wolfpack are currently one of three teams in the NCAA with an undefeated record as they sit at 15-0, a program-best start to a season.
NC State is being led offensively by Kiara Leslie who is averaging 14.5 points, a team-high 7.9 rebounds, 3.0 assists and a team-high 1.3 steals across 30.9 minutes/game. Leslie also ranks second on the squad in three-pointers made (30) while shooting 44.7% from the floor.
Elissa Cunane is having a strong impact off the NC State bench as she is averaging 12.7 points and 5.2 rebounds. Junior Aislinn Konig is enjoying a strong start to the season as she is averaging 12.6 points, a team-high 4.1 assists and 2.3 rebounds while starting all 15 games.
As a team, the Wolfpack are averaging 76.4 points/game while they rank third in the ACC allowing an average of 57.7 points/game. NC State also leads the ACC in field goal percentage defense (33.4%) and rebounding margin (+12.5).
NC State is coached by Wes Moore who is entering his sixth season in charge of the Wolfpack. Moore currently owns a career head coaching record of 685-221 while posting a 127-52 record at NC State.

LOOKING AHEAD

The Panthers will return home on Sunday, Jan. 13 for their first of four straight home ACC games as they welcome the Boston College Eagles to the Petersen Events Center at 1:00 pm.
Pitt will then welcome nationally ranked Syracuse to town on Thursday, Jan. 17 at 7:00 pm, Clemson on Sunday, Jan. 20 at 2:00 pm and Virginia on Thursday, Jan. 24 at 7:00 pm.

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