Pitt Set To Host Wake Forest On Thursday Night At The Pete

PITTSBURGH – The Pitt women's basketball team returns home to kick off a three-game homestand on Thursday night as they welcome the Wake Forest Demon Deacons to the Petersen Events Center for a 7:00 pm tip.

HOW TO FOLLOW

Thursday night's game against Wake Forest will air on ACC Network Extra and can be streamed 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 6:45 pm followed by the call of the game at 7:00 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 10^th game between the two programs with Wake Forest holding the 6-3 lead in the series.
The Panthers defeated the Demon Deacons last season on the road, 70-64.
Wake Forest owns a 3-0 all-time record in games held in Pittsburgh.
The first meeting in the series happened on Dec. 21, 1998, a game the Panthers won 53-46.

SCOUTING THE DEMON DEACONS

The Wake Forest Demon Deacons enter Thursday night's game at Pitt with a 12-8 overall record and a 5-4 ACC mark. They are coming off of a 65-60 home victory over Syracuse last time out.
Offensively, the Demon Deacons are being led by Ivana Raca who is averaging 17.0 points and 7.1 rebounds across an average of 34.8 minutes/game.
Alex Sharp is netting 12.1 points and a team-high 8.8 rebounds while shooting 42.6% from behind the arc and grabbing 56 offensive rebounds.
Point guard Gina Conti is averaging 11.0 points and ranks third in the ACC in assists (5.4 apg). She is also averaging 5.8 helpers in ACC games.
As a team, Wake Forest is averaging 67.4 ppg while allowing 61.8 ppg. They grab an average of 42.6 rpg while turning the ball over 16.3 times per game.

STORYLINES

One of the major points of emphasis for Pitt coming into the season was improving on their rebounding and through 19 games the Panthers have done a great job. So far this season, Pitt is averaging 41.5 rpg, a +6.0 rebound margin from a season ago. The +6.0 margin marks the biggest improvement in the ACC this season.
The new-look Pitt lineup has been relying heavily on the production of newcomers as the six newcomers have combined to average 40.2 points and 27.3 rebounds per game. They are accounting for 67.1% of the Pitt scoring this season.

THE OPENING TIP

The Panthers open up a three-game homestand on Thursday night as they welcome Wake Forest to the Pete at 7:00 pm.
Pitt is being led offensively by Aysia Bugg who is averaging 12.7 points while connecting on a team-high 42 three-pointers.
Freshman forward Amber Brown is excelling for the Panthers as she is averaging 9.7 points and a team-high 8.6 rebounds. She has recorded five double-doubles and nine games with 10+ rebounds this season.
Point guard Dayshanette Harris is continuing to make strides for Pitt as she is averaging 10.1 points, 3.8 rebounds, 2.7 assists and a team-best 1.8 steals.

NEWCOMERS MAKING AN IMPACT

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 40.2 points and 27.3 rebounds per game so far this season.
The newcomers are accounting for 67.1% of the Panthers scoring efforts this season and 65.7% of the rebounding efforts.
The freshman duo of Dayshanette Harris and Amber Brown have combined to score 19.8 points per game, the second best freshman duo in the ACC behind Notre Dame's duo of Sam Brunelle and Anaya Peoples (26.7 ppg).
The freshman duo of Brown and Rita Igbokwe are currently lead all ACC freshman duos in combined rebounds (15.6 rpg). The duo is currently tied for second in the NCAA for freshman duos combined rebounds/game, trailing only a duo from UC Santa Barbara (15.9 rpg).
Brown and Igbokwe are one of two duos of freshman teammates in the NCAA averaging at least 6.9 rpg each (Oregon State).
Pitt and Virginia are the only teams in the ACC with three freshman (Harris, Brown, Hayford) who are averaging at least 20.0 mpg on the season.

BUGG FROM DOWNTOWN

Aysia Bugg has revamped her game this season to focus more on the three-point shot and it has paid off for the sixth-year guard.
So far this season, Bugg has connected on a career-high 42 triples and is moving up the career three-pointers made charts, currently sitting in 10th place.
Last time out, Bugg netted two three-pointers to move past former teammate Cassidy Walsh into 10th place on the all-time charts.
Bugg is just 11 triples away from ninth place on the all-time list, a position that is currently held by Alecia Balic who played at Pitt from 1995-99.

100+ Career Three-Pointers Made
#     Name                      Years            3's
1.    Erin Maloy              1990-94       166
2.    Taneisha Harrison 2007-11       150
3.    Fred Potvin 2013-16       126
4.    Brianna Kiesel 2011-15       123
5.    Mallorie Winn 2005-08       119
6.    Shayla Scott           2007-11       118
7.    Monique Toney 1997-01       117
8.    Haley Harguth 2001-03       114
9.    Alecia Balic            1995-99       113
10. Aysia Bugg 2014-Pres.   102
11. Cassidy Walsh 2015-19       101

NEXT UP

Pitt will stay at home on Saturday afternoon as they welcome #14 Florida State to the Pete for the 13^th Annual Pink The Petersen game to raise awareness and funds for breast cancer. The game will tip at 5:00 pm and the doors will open at 3:30 pm with activities and giveaways happening on the concourse level of the arena.
Pink the Pete t-shirts, pink Roc bobblehead and pink shakers will be handed out at the entrance to the game.

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