Panthers Hang 91 Points On The Tar Heels; Knock Off North Carolina, 91-78

Thursday, February 14

Pittsburgh, Pa.

7 PM

Pitt

(10-16, 1-11ACC

North Carolina

(15-11, 6-6ACC)

North Carolina

Pitt

Photo by: Pete Madia/Pitt Athletics

Panthers Hang 91 Points On The Tar Heels; Knock Off North Carolina, 91-78

2/14/2019 10:43:00 PM | Women's Basketball

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PITTSBURGH – Behind a career-high 27 point night from senior forward Danielle Garven, the University of Pittsburgh women's basketball team (10-16, 1-11 ACC) notched their first ACC victory of the season on Thursday night inside the Petersen Events Center as they took down the North Carolina Tar Heels, 91-78. The 91 points for the Panthers was the most they have scored in a game this season while they also shot a season-best 59% from the floor in the thrilling victory.

"First off, I am extremely excited and proud of the way that our team played today," said head coach Lance White after earning his first career ACC victory as a head coach. "Again, you can talk so much about the character of these young women that come to war and battle every day, and they have done it so far this year without a lot of outcome. We kept talking that it was coming—if we keep the course and keep fighting, then great things are going to happen, and tonight a great thing happened. I am really proud of them. They never doubted—we had been talking about confidence, confidence in shooting it, and confidence in who they are, and to see it come together tonight was really rewarding as a coach. I am really excited for them."

Garven was a monster down low for the Panthers all night long as she finished off the best game of her collegiate career with 27 points, seven rebounds and two assists across 34 minutes. The senior had her most efficient night of her career as she went 13-for-18 from the floor in the win. Fellow senior Cassidy Walsh finished off her career night with 22 points, five rebounds and three assists as she went 8-for-10 from the floor and 6-for-8 from behind the arc, tying a career-high for triples in a game.

Pitt had their best shooting performance of the season on Valentine's Day as they were able to shoot a season-best 59% from the floor while posting their most points (91) in an ACC game since joining the conference in 2013. The Panthers connected on 11 three-pointers as they shot a season-best 57.9% from behind the arc including a 9-for-12 shooting first half from deep.

The Panthers had a great start to the game on Thursday night as Kauai Bradley opened the game with a triple and Walsh backed that up with a three of her own. Jasmine Whitney then knocked down a long jumper and Garven finished off a hook shot in the paint to force a North Carolina timeout with Pitt leading 10-3. Walsh came out of the timeout on fire as she was able to knock down three more triples and a layup as the Panthers closed out their highest scoring first quarter with the 28-21 lead.

The Panthers continued their hot-shooting in the second quarter as Kyla Nelson knocked down a three to open the scoring in the quarter. The Tar Heels responded with a run to cut the Panthers lead down to six, 38-32, but Jahsyni Knight knocked down a jumper to end the run and push the Pitt lead to 10. Pitt continued to connect from deep down the stretch of the first half as Bradley and Whitney knocked down triples to send the Panthers to the locker room with the 53-37 lead, a season-high for points scored in a quarter for Pitt.

The third quarter went back-and-forth as the Tar Heels were able to outscore the Panthers 21-19 in the quarter. After the Panthers built a 15-point lead, 62-47, behind a pair of Whitney jumpers, North Carolina put a 6-0 run together to get back within nine, 62-53 midway through the third. Garven took over across the final four minutes for the Panthers as she netted three straight buckets to send the game to the fourth with Pitt leading 72-58.

After Garven gave the Panthers the commanding 80-67 lead with an offensive rebound and layup, the Tar Heels started to creep back into the game as they netted seven straight points to cut the Pitt lead down to six, 80-74, and forcing a timeout. The Panthers responded nicely out of the timeout as Garven netted another layup and Walsh netted a floater in the paint to push the lead back to 10. Bradley put the game away in the final minutes as she connected on her third triple of the game to give Pitt the 91-78 home victory.

Whitney finished off her night with 13 points, a team-high seven assists and five rebounds while Bradley netted 15 points, eight rebounds and five assists across a team-high 36 minutes. Off the bench, Knight tied a career-high with six points, four assists and three rebounds across just 11 minutes of action.

The Panthers held the 34-26 edge in scoring inside the paint and they won the rebounding battle 38-35, improving to 8-2 on the season when grabbing more rebounds than their opponent. The Panthers also improved to an unblemished 9-0 this season when scoring 60+ points.

UP NEXT:

The Panthers will hit the road for three straight ACC games starting on Sunday as they head down to Tallahassee to take on Florida State at 2:00 pm. The Panthers will then head to Syracuse and Wake Forest.
Pitt will wrap up their regular season on Mar. 3 as they welcome nationally-ranked Louisville to the Petersen Events Center for a 2:00 pm tip. The game will be Senior Day for four Pitt seniors.

PITT NOTES
Team

With the win, the Panthers improve to 6-3 all-time against the Tar Heels and a perfect 4-0 inside the Petersen Events Center
The win marked the first ACC head coaching victory for Pitt head coach Lance White
It was the first ACC win for the Panthers since Feb. 1, 2018 when they downed Clemson 58-42
The victory was the Panthers first ACC home win since Jan. 14, 2018 when they downed Georgia Tech
The 91 points scored by the Panthers marked their most in an ACC game since joining the conference in 2013. It was also a season-high effort and the most points Pitt has scored in a game against a division I opponent since Dec. 30, 2014 when they scored 93 against Delaware State
Pitt had two players score 20+ points in the same game (Garven 27, Walsh 22) for the first time since Nov. 16, 2017
The Panthers notched 53 first half points, a season-high, in the win
Pitt shot 59% from the floor overall in the game, a season-best, including 66% in the first half
The Panthers had four players score in double figures for the first time in ACC play and the first time overall since Nov. 25 against Tennessee State

Danielle Garven

Garven started her 22^nd straight game for the Panthers in the win
The senior led the Panthers with a career-high 27 points, seven rebounds and two assists across 34 minutes
Garven finished off her night going 13-for-18 from the floor as she notched her second 20+ point outing of the season
She has now scored in double figures a career-best 13 times on the season including in five of her last seven games
Over her last seven games, Garven is averaging 15.0 points and 4.6 rebounds while shooting 57.5% from the floor
The senior has surpassed 30+ minutes in a career-high 13 games

Cassidy Walsh

Only Panther to start all 26 games this season
Finished off her night with a career-high 22 points, five rebounds and three assists across 33 minutes of work
She tied a career-high by making six three pointers as she went an efficient 6-for-8 from behind the arc in the win
Overall, Walsh went 8-for-10 from the floor as she set a new career-high for field goals made in a game
She has scored in double figures a team-high 14 times this season
Played 30+ minutes for the 17^th time this year, a new career-high
The senior has connected on two or more three pointers in 11 of her last 15 games
She has now connected on a career-high 54 three-pointers on the year

Jasmine Whitney

The junior has started 23 straight games for the Panthers at point guard
She finished off her game with 13 points, seven assists and five rebounds across 32 minutes of action
Whitney has three straight games with at least six assists and she has done so in four of her last five games for the Panthers
The junior has led the Panthers in assists a career-high 19 times including in each of the past five games
She played 32 minutes, marking the 11^th game this season she has done so

Kauai Bradley

The senior finished off her game with 15 points, eight rebounds and five assists across a team-high 36 minutes
She finished off her night going 5-for-9 from the floor and 3-for-6 from behind the arc
The eight rebounds are the most she has recorded in an ACC game this season
The five assists tied a season-high for Bradley
She has scored in double figures five times this season and 17 times in her Pitt career
She has gone over the 30-minute plateau 11 times this season and 30 times in her career