Strong Second Half Leads Pitt To Road Win Over Wake Forest

Thursday, February 28

Winston-Salem, N.C.

7 PM

Pitt

11-18

Wake Forest

10-18

Pittsburgh

Wake Forest

Strong Second Half Leads Pitt To Road Win Over Wake Forest

2/28/2019 9:33:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score Box Score

WINSTON-SALEM, NC – Behind a dominant performance by junior point guard Jasmine Whitney, the University of Pittsburgh women's basketball team (11-18, 2-13 ACC) collected a 70-64 road victory over the Wake Forest Demon Deacons on Thursday night inside the LJVM Coliseum. Whitney finished off her second career double-double with 19 points, a career-high 12 assists, six rebounds and three steals in the win.

"I thought our defensive intensity in the second half was the difference in the game" said first-year head coach Lance White. "We turned them over 24 times and that helped us secure a tough road victory. Jasmine Whitney had a great game passing the ball for us and Danielle Garven finished around the basket at a high level. We have talked so much about growth in our program and I love seeing our players overcome adversity and play their best basketball."

Senior Danielle Garven led the Panthers in scoring as she went over the 20-point plateau for the second straight game for the first time in her Pitt career. The senior finished with 21 points, five rebounds and four steals while going 10-21 from the floor. Whitney finished off her impressive game with 19 points, a career-high 12 assists, six rebounds and three steals across 37 minutes of work.

After the Demon Deacons opened up a 5-2 lead early on after a banked in three-pointer, the Panthers were able to respond with back-to-back buckets as Kyla Nelson and Cara Judkins converted on layups to give Pitt the 6-5 lead two minutes into action. Wake Forest responded with a 9-0 run to take the 14-6 lead into the first media timeout of the game midway through the opening quarter. Jasmine Whitney found her stroke with back-to-back long jumpers before Danielle Garven finished the scoring in the quarter as Pitt went to the second trailing the Demon Deacons 20-12.

The Panthers opened up the second quarter on an 11-2 run which forced the Wake Forest Demon Deacons to call two timeouts. Garven opened and closed the run with fast break layups and Nelson drilled her first triple of the game as Pitt took over the 23-22 lead midway through the quarter. The two sides went back-and-forth before the Demon Deacons gained the four-point lead with just over a minute remaining, 34-30, but Ismini Prapa was able to bury an open three-pointer to send Pitt to the locker room trailing by only one, 34-33.

Pitt had another strong start to a quarter in the third as they went on a 9-2 run and headed to the media timeout in the quarter with the 42-38 lead. Garven was the catalyst for the Panthers as she netted five points in the run while Whitney drained a triple as the Pitt defense held the Demon Deacons to 0-for-7 from the floor over a five minute spurt. The Demon Deacons were then able to go on a 9-1 run to take the 47-43 lead but Pitt ended the quarter with eight straight as Whitney netted a triple and a layup and free throw to send the Panthers to the fourth leading 51-47.

Pitt opened up the final quarter on a 7-2 run as Nelson drilled a triple and Garven finished off a layup to give the Panthers the 58-49 lead. After the Demon Deacons cut the lead down to seven, 62-55, Cassidy Walsh nailed her first triple of the game to help Pitt regain the 10-point advantage and the Panthers never looked back as they cruised to their second ACC win of the season, 70-64.

Judkins finished off her game with nine points and seven rebounds while Nelson finished off her first start of the conference season with nine points and three rebounds. Walsh netted seven points, five steals and two rebounds in the win.

As a team, the Panthers shot 45% from the floor while holding the Demon Deacons to 37.3% shooting. Pitt forced 24 Wake turnovers, marking the second straight game the Panthers have forced 20+ turnovers. The Panthers notched 17 steals in the game as four different Pitt players recorded two or more steals in the win.

UP NEXT:

The Panthers will return home on Sunday for their final regular season game of the season as they welcome #3 Louisville to the Petersen Events Center for a 2:00 pm tip. Sunday's game will also be the Panthers senior day and Play4Kay game.
After Sunday's regular season finale against Louisville, Pitt will head to the ACC Tournament at the Greensboro Coliseum in Greensboro, NC on Wednesday, Mar. 6. The Panthers will be the #14 seed and play the #11 seed in the opening round.

PITT NOTES
Team

With the win, Pitt improves to 11-18 overall on the season and 2-13 in ACC play. The 11 wins surpasses last season's win total of 10 victories
The win clinches the #14 seed in the ACC Tournament for the Panthers as they will take on the #11 seed in the first round game on Wednesday, March 6
Pitt improves to 3-6 all-time against Wake Forest including 2-1 in Winston-Salem, NC
The win marked the first road ACC victory for the Panthers since Feb. 1, 2018 when they downed Clemson 58-42
The Panthers forced 24 Wake Forest turnovers in the win as they have now forced 20+ turnovers eight times this season and in two straight games
Pitt finished with 17 steals as a team, marking their fourth game this season with 15+ steals
72-38 last season in ACC Tournament first round

Danielle Garven

Garven started her 25^th straight game for the Panthers in the win
The senior finished off her game leading Pitt in scoring for the sixth straight game as she netted 21 points, five rebounds and four steals across 34 minutes
The 20+ point effort was her fourth of the season and her second straight game doing so, marking the first time she has done that in her Pitt career
She has now scored in double figures a career-best 16 times on the season including in six straight and in eight of the last 10 games
Over her last 10 games, Garven is averaging 16.3 points and 4.3 rebounds while shooting 54.5% from the floor
The senior has surpassed 30+ minutes in a career-high 16 games

Jasmine Whitney

The junior started her 26^th straight game for the Panthers at point guard in the win
She finished off her second career double-double with 19 points, a career-high 12 assists, six rebounds and three steals across 37 minutes of work
Whitney has now scored 18+ points in back-to-back ACC games for the first time in her Pitt career
The junior has led the Panthers in assists a career-high 22 times including in each of the past eight games
Whitney has 14 games with five or more assists this season
She has 17 multi-steal games this season including five or more thefts on three occasions
She played 37 minutes, marking the 14^th game this season she has played 30+ minutes