Panthers Set For Showdown With Syracuse At The Pete on Sunday

PITTSBURGH – The Pitt women's basketball team returns home on Sunday afternoon as they play host to the Syracuse Orange for a 12:00 pm tip on RSN, AT&T SportsNet Pittsburgh in the Pittsburgh area. Evan Lepler (PxP) and Kelley Deyo (Color) will be on the call for the game on Sunday at the Pete.

HOW TO FOLLOW

Sunday's game in Pittsburgh will air live on RSN, AT&T SportsNet Pittsburgh in the Pittsburgh area. You can watch the game by clicking HERE.
Fans can also listen to the game on the radio by tuning into 1320 AM WJAS. The voice of the Pitt women's basketball team, Josh Rowntree, will get you started with the pregame show at 11:45 am followed by the call of the game at 12:00 pm. Listen to the call HERE.
Live stats for the game can be found by clicking HERE.
Live updates throughout the game will also be posted on Twitter by following the Pitt women's basketball account @Pitt_WBB.

THE SERIES

This meeting marks the 63^rd all-time between the two squads, the most against a single opponent in program history for Pitt.
The Orange own the 43-19 series lead including a 18-12 edge in games held in Pittsburgh.
Syracuse has won each of the last 16 meetings between the two teams including a pair of games last season.
Pitt's last win in the series came on Jan. 24, 2009 in Syracuse.

SCOUTING THE ORANGE

The Syracuse Orange enter Sunday's game in Pittsburgh with a 8-8 overall record to go along with a 2-3 ACC mark. The Orange have lost two straight in ACC play as they fell at Miami and at home to Georgia Tech last time out, 82-64.
The Orange are led offensively by Kiara Lewis who ranks fourth in the ACC in scoring (17.8 ppg) to go along with 4.8 rebounds and a team-high 5.1 assists per game.
Emily Engstler is enjoying a strong sophomore campaign as she is averaging 10.1 points and an ACC-high 10.6 rebounds. She has seven double-doubles so far this season.
As a team, the Orange are averaging 71.3 ppg while allowing an average of 68.4 ppg. Syracuse is strong on the glass as they average 43.8 rebounds (2nd in ACC) while holding opponents to just 38.8 rpg.

LAST TIME OUT

The Panthers saw their four-point lead with under four minutes left disappear as they dropped their fifth straight in ACC play on the road at Clemson on Thursday night in overtime, 75-67.
Junior Gabbie Green had her best game in conference action as she netted a team-high 17 points, seven rebounds and two steals while connecting on a career-high five three-pointers in 40 minutes of work.
Leading scorer Aysia Bugg scored in double figures for her third straight game as she netted 14 points while Amber Brown had a team-high 11 rebounds.
As a team, the Panthers shot just 28.2% from the floor but grabbed a season-high 27 offensive rebounds in the loss.

MUCH IMPROVED REBOUNDING

One of the biggest points of emphasis coming into the season for head coach Lance White and his staff was growth rebounding the basketball. Through 16 games this season, the youthful Panthers have taken that to heart and have made huge strides rebounding the basketball.
So far this season, the Panthers are averaging 41.8 rebounds/game. The Panthers are averaging 6.3 rebounds/game more than they did a season ago (35.5 rpg).
The +6.3 rebounding improvement from 2018-19 to 2019-20 is the biggest improvement in the ACC.
Last time out, Pitt grabbed a season-high 55 rebounds in the loss at Clemson.
The 55 rebounds are the most in a game for Pitt since grabbing 61 against NC State on 1/10/16 and second most in a game overall since joining the ACC.
Of their 55 rebounds, 27 came on the offensive glass which are the most in a game by Pitt since Feb. 6, 2013 when they grabbed 30 against Providence in an overtime loss.
Pitt has posted 51+ rebounds three this season, the most in a season since 2014-15 when they also posted three games with 51+ rebounds. The last time Pitt had four games of 51+ rebounds was during the 2009-10 season.

Games With 50+ Rebounds (since 2013-14)

Date           Opponent                     #
1/10/16     NC State                       61
1/16/20    at Clemson                  55
12/28/14   St. Francis (PA)            55
11/17/14   Niagara                         54
1/8/15       #8 North Carolina      54
1/2/20       Notre Dame                53
3/2/16       vs. North Carolina      52
12/5/19    at Penn State              51
11/26/13   Mount St. Mary's       51
11/16/15   at Saint Francis           50

Pitt has recorded 40+ rebounds eight times this season after doing so just six times through 31 games a season ago.
Earlier this season, Pitt grabbed 41+ rebounds in six straight games for the first time since the 2009-10 season.

NEWCOMERS MAKING STRONG IMPACT FOR PITT

Entering the 2019-20 campaign, the Panthers knew they were going to have to rely heavily on a handful of newcomers to make an impact and they have done a nice job so far this season.
The six newcomers for the Pitt are averaging a combined 41.6 points and 27.0 rebounds per game so far this season.
The newcomers are accounting for 66.9% of the Panthers scoring efforts this season and 64.6% of the rebounding efforts.
The freshman duo of Dayshanette Harris and Amber Brown have combined to score 20.3 points per game, the second best freshman duo in the ACC behind Notre Dame's duo of Sam Brunelle and Anaya Peoples (25.7 ppg).
The freshman duo of Brown and Rita Igbokwe are currently leads all ACC freshman duos in combined rebounds (15.2 rpg) while Notre Dame's duo of Ayana Peoples and Sam Brunelle (14.3 rpg) ranks second.

GREEN LIGHT

Junior Gabbie Green has brought the Panthers some experience with a work ethic that pushes her teammates each and every day.
The Bellville, Texas native has begun to settle into her role and she has been given the green light on the offensive end of the court since the start of ACC play.
Last time out, Green had a strong game against Clemson as she netted a career-high five three-pointers and finished with 17 points and seven rebound across 40 minutes of action.
Green currently ranks third in the ACC during conference games, shooting 42.5% from behind the arc. She has connected on 17 triples in five games, fourth most per game (3.4/game).
On the year, Green ranks third on the team averaging 9.5 points, 3.8 rebounds and 1.5 assists while connecting on a team-best 35.8% of her three-pointers across 30.4 minutes/game.
She has scored in double figures six times this season including a career-high 23-point effort in the loss to Miami (OH) earlier this season.
The lightning-quick guard has nine games with two or more three-pointers made including in each of her last five games.
Green has been asked to play big minutes for Pitt as she has notched 20+ minutes in all 16 games and 30+ minutes nine times.

NEXT UP

Pitt will stay at home for their next game as they welcome nationally-ranked NC State to the Pete on Thursday, Jan. 23 for a 7:00 pm tip. Thursday's game will air live on ACC Network Extra.
The Pittsburgh Pirates Care-A-Van will also make a stop at the Pete and participate in pre-game autographs with select players and coaches. List of players/coaches who will be attending can be found HERE.

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