Pitt Set To Play Host To Boston College On Sunday Afternoon

PITTSBURGH – The Pitt women's basketball team returns home for their second straight ACC contest on Sunday afternoon as the Boston College Eagles come to town for a 2:00 pm tip inside the Petersen Events Center. Sunday's game will be the annual Chancellor Gallagher's Friends, Family & Neighbors Day filled with free food, games and activities.

SUNDAY'S PROMOTIONS

Chancellor Gallagher's Friends, Family & Neighbors Day – Free food, games and activities. Chalk talk with Pitt coach in the Campus View Club at 1:15 pm. T-shirt giveaway.
Baby Race – First of two baby races will take place at halftime on the court. Winners will receive a Pitt athletics prize package.

HOW TO FOLLOW

Sunday's game against Boston College will air live on the ACC Network Extra. You can watch the game by clicking HERE.
Fans can also listen to the game on the radio by tuning into 107.9 KDKA-HD3. The voice of the Pitt women's basketball team, Josh Rowntree, will get you started with the pregame show at 1:45 pm followed by the call of the game at 2:00 pm.
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 47th in the all-time series with the Eagles holding the 28-18 edge in the matchup.
Boston College has won two straight in the series including a 59-55 victory in Pittsburgh last season.
The Eagles hold the slim 12-10 edge in the all-time series in Pittsburgh.
The Panthers last win in the series came on Jan. 5, 2017.

A WIN WOULD...

Give Pitt their 19th all-time victory over the Eagles.
Be the Panthers 631^st victory in program history.
End the current six-game losing streak for the Panthers.
Be Pitt's first ACC victory of the season.

SCOUTING THE EAGLES

The Boston College Eagles come to Pittsburgh sporting a 7-6 overall record with a 0-2 ACC mark. BC lost at Duke to open ACC play and to NC State last time out, 72-54.
The Eagles are led offensively by Cameron Swartz who is averaging 12.6 points, 3.8 rebounds and 2.6 assists while shooting 44.1% from the floor.
Taylor Soule is enjoying a strong sophomore season as she is averaging 12.5 points and a team-best 6.6 rebounds while shooting 54.1% from the floor. Emma Guy is averaging 11.6 points and 5.5 boards while connecting on 59.6% of her shots.
As a team, the Eagles rank second in the ACC in scoring offense (78.7 ppg) while ranking 14th in scoring defense (68.2 ppg).

STORYLINES

One of the major points of emphasis for Pitt coming into the season was improving on their rebounding and through 13 games the Panthers have done a great job. So far this season, Pitt is averaging 41.3 rpg, a +5.8 rebound margin from a season ago. The +5.8 margin marks the second biggest improvement in the ACC.
The new-look Pitt lineup has been relying heavily on the production of newcomers as the six newcomers have combined to average 40.4 points and 26.7 rebounds per game. They are accounting for 64.8% of the Pitt scoring this season.

THE OPENING TIP

The Panthers welcome Boston College to the Petersen Events Center on Sunday afternoon at 2pm for an ACC battle.
Pitt is being led offensively by Aysia Bugg who is averaging 13.5 points while connecting on a team-high 29 three-pointers.
Freshman forward Amber Brown is excelling for the Panthers as she is averaging 11.6 points and a team-high 8.5 rebounds. She has recorded five double-doubles and seven games with 10+ rebounds this season.
Point guard Dayshanette Harris is continuing to make strides for Pitt as she is averaging 9.8 points, 3.8 rebounds and a team-high 2.7 assists per game.

LAST TIME OUT

After falling behind by as much as 17 in the third quarter, the Panthers comeback attempt fell just short on Thursday night as they were downed 60-52 by Notre Dame.
The Panthers received another double-double from budding star Amber Brown as she netted 12 points and 11 rebounds across 34 minutes while Gabbie Green led all Pitt scorers with 13 points while going 3-for-6 from deep.
Freshman Rita Igbokwe made a strong impact off the Pitt bench as she netted six points, eight rebounds and four blocks in the loss.
As a team, the Panthers grabbed a season-high 53 rebounds including 21 offensive rebounds, 19 of which coming in the second half.

IG-BLOCK-WE MAKING AN IMPACT

Freshman forward Rita Igbokwe has continued to show major growth down low for the Panthers and her development will be a key for Pitt this season and in the future.
The athletically gifted Igbokwe has become a problem for opponents down low as her length is causing players to adjust all shots inside the paint.
Last time out, Igbokwe provided Pitt with a much needed spark off the bench as she netted six points, eight rebounds and four blocks across 17 minutes of work. The freshman went 3-for-5 from the floor while also grabbing three of the Panthers 21 offensive rebounds.
So far this season, she is averaging 15.5 minutes, 3.7 points, 6.5 rebounds and 2.2 blocks while shooting 48.8% from the floor.
She ranks second among all players in the ACC and second among ACC freshman in blocked shots (28, 2.2 bpg) so far this season.
She has seven multi-block games so far this season including a career-high six against Ohio. She has notched 11 blocks over her last four games for the Panthers off the bench.
Earlier this year, Igbokwe posted a monster game with 18 rebounds against Ohio. The 18 boards marked the most in a game by a Pitt player since 2010 and the most by a Pitt freshman since 2005.
The Jonesboro, Ga. native has three games with 10+ rebounds this season.

NEWCOMERS MAKING A DIFFERENCE

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 41.0 points and 27.1 rebounds per game so far this season.
The newcomers are accounting for 66.5% of the Panthers scoring efforts this season and 65.5% of the rebounding efforts
The freshman duo of Dayshanette Harris and Amber Brown have combined to score 21.4 points per game, the second best freshman duo in the ACC behind Notre Dame's duo of Sam Brunelle and Anaya Peoples (27.5 ppg).
The freshman duo of Brown and Rita Igbokwe currently lead all ACC freshman in combined rebounds (15.0 rpg). The Notre Dame duo of Ayana Peoples and Sam Brunelle (14.6 rpg) ranks second.
Entering this season, the Panthers had to replace 70.4% of their scoring from a season ago in which they averaged 57.5 points/game and the newcomers have stepped in nicely so far.

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 13 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 41.3 rebounds/game. The Panthers are averaging 5.8 rebounds/game more than they did a season ago (35.5 rpg).
The +5.8 rebounding improvement from 2018-19 to 2019-20 is the second biggest improvement in the ACC behind North Carolina (+7.5 rpg).
Last time out, the Panthers controlled the glass in the loss to Notre Dame as they snagged a season-high 53 rebounds including 21 on the offensive glass, 19 or which coming in the second half.
The 53 rebounds are the most in a game for the Panthers since Jan. 10, 2016 when they grabbed 61 against NC State. It also marked the third most rebounds in an ACC game for Pitt since joining the conference in 2013-14.
Pitt has posted 51+ rebounds twice this season, the most in a season since 2014-15 when they posted three games with 51+ rebounds.

Games With 50+ Rebounds (since 2013-14)
Date           Opponent                     #
1/10/16     NC State                       61
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 seven 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.

NEXT UP

The Panthers will hit the road for their next ACC game as they travel to Blacksburg, Va. to take on the Virginia Tech Hokies on Thursday night at 7:00 pm.
Pitt will then have a week off before their next game as they head to Clemson on Thursday, Jan. 16 for a 7:00 pm game.

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