Panthers Head To Blacksburg To Take On The Hokies On Thursday Night

PITTSBURGH – The Pitt women's basketball team returns to the road on Thursday night as they travel down to Blacksburg, Va. to take on the Virginia Tech Hokies. The ACC clash is set to tip at 7:00 pm on the ACC Network Extra with Jon Lasser and Crystal Hubbard on the call.

HOW TO FOLLOW

Thursday's game at Virginia Tech 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 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 15^th all-time between the two programs with the Hokies holding the 9-5 series lead over the Panthers.
Virginia Tech has won two straight in the series including a 74-58 victory in Pittsburgh last season.
The Hokies own a 5-1 record in games played in Blacksburg against Pitt.
The Panthers last win in the series came on Feb. 16, 2017 when they downed the Hokkies 72-64 in Pittsburgh.

A WIN WOULD...

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

ABOUT THE HOKIES

The Virginia Tech Hokies enter Thursday's meeting with a 11-3 overall record and a 1-2 ACC mark. The Hokies are coming off of their first ACC victory of the season last time out as they downed UNC 76-70.
The Hokies are led offensively by junior Aisha Sheppard who is averaging 17.3 points, 3.2 rebounds and a team-high 1.1 steals across 30.4 minutes/game.
Sophomore Dara Mabrey is enjoying a strong start to her season as she is averaging a team-high 31.9 minutes, 14.3 points and 2.6 rebounds while connecting on 38 three-pointers and hitting 40.9% of her triple attempts.
As a team, Virginia Tech is averaging 75.7 ppg while allowing 62.4 ppg. The Hokies are shooting an ACC-best 39% from three on the year.

STORYLINES

One of the major points of emphasis for Pitt coming into the season was improving on their rebounding and through 14 games the Panthers have done a great job. So far this season, Pitt is averaging 40.9 rpg, a +5.4 rebound margin from a season ago. The +5.4 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 41.6 points and 26.8 rebounds per game. They are accounting for 66.8% of the Pitt scoring this season.

THE OPENING TIP

The Panthers hit the road on Thursday night to take on the Virginia Tech Hokies at 7pm in Blacksburg, Va.
Pitt is being led offensively by Aysia Bugg who is averaging 13.2 points while connecting on a team-high 30 three-pointers.
Freshman forward Amber Brown is excelling for the Panthers as she is averaging 11.2 points and a team-high 8.3 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 9.4 points, 4.1 rebounds and a team-high 2.9 assists per game.

LAST TIME OUT

Pitt raced out to a 10-point lead in the opening quarter but the hot-shooting Eagles mounted a comeback and collected the 79-70 road victory on Sunday afternoon at the Pete.
The Panthers were led offensively by Gabbie Green who netted 12 points on four three-pointers and Rita Igbokwe who notched a career-high 12 points, five rebounds, two blocks and two steals.
Freshman Dayshanette Harris had a strong all-around game off the bench as she finished with five points, a career-high eight rebounds, six assists and two steals in the loss.
For the game, the Eagles shot 50% from the floor while Pitt dominated almost all the other statistical categories including points off turnovers (23-14) and bench scoring (31-4).

WHAT CAN BROWN DO FOR YOU?

Freshman forward Amber Brown will be asked to play big minutes down low for the Panthers this season and she seems ready for the challenge.
Last time out, Brown had a quiet but efficient game for the Panthers as she netted six points and six rebounds while going 3-for-4 from the floor across 24 minutes of work.
In the loss to Notre Dame, Brown went 8-for-14 from the free throw line. The 14 free throw attempts marked the most in a single game by a Pitt player since Dec. 28, 2014 when Brianna Kiesel went 14-for-16 from the charity stripe.
On the year, Brown is averaging 11.2 points and a team-high 8.3 rebounds while connecting on 44.3% of her field goal attempts. Her 8.3 rebounds ranks 10th in the ACC overall while her 10.0 rpg in ACC play ranks second.
Brown has grabbed at least four boards in all 14 of her career games while grabbing 10+ boards a team-leading seven times and leading Pitt in rebounds seven times.
Brown was tabbed ACC Freshman of the Week for the second time in her Pitt career on Jan. 6 after closing out her first week of ACC play averaging 8.3 points and 10.0 rebounds. She also earned the recognition on Dec. 9 after averaging a double-double for the week. Brown is the second Panther in program history to earn the weekly recognition twice.
Earlier this season, Brown became the first Panther since Stasha Carey in 2015-16 to notch three straight games with 10+ rebounds. She is also the first freshman to do so since Carey did it in the 2014-15 season.
Brown has recorded five double-doubles so far this season, eighth most by any player in the ACC and third most among freshman in the NCAA. She is also the first freshman to record at least five double-doubles in a season since Brenna Wise had six in 2015-16.

RITA IG-BLOCK-WE MAKING STRONG IMPACT OFF THE PITT BENCH

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 had her best offensive game of her career as she netted a career-high 12 points, five rebounds, two blocks and two steals across 24 minutes of work against Boston College.
So far this season, she is averaging 16.0 minutes, 4.3 points, 6.4 rebounds and 2.1 blocks while shooting 51.0% from the floor.
She ranks second among all players in the ACC and second among ACC freshman in blocked shots (30, 2.1 bpg) so far this season.
She has eight multi-block games including in two straight and four of her last five games so far this season. She has notched 13 blocks over her last five games for the Panthers off the bench.
Earlier this year, Igbokwe posted a monster game with 18 rebounds and six blocks 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.

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 14 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 40.9 rebounds/game. The Panthers are averaging 5.4 rebounds/game more than they did a season ago (35.5 rpg).
The +5.4 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 were held to just 35 rebounds in the loss to Boston College. The 35 rebounds were the least in a game for Pitt since grabbing 31 in their second game of the season against Central Connecticut St.
In the game against Notre Dame, Pitt snagged a season-high 53 rebounds which were the most 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 stay on the road for their next contest on Thursday, Jan. 16 as they head to Clemson to take on the Tigers at 7:00 pm.
After Clemson, Pitt will return home as they welcome the Syracuse Orange to the Petersen Events Center on Sunday, Jan. 19 for a 12:00 pm tip. Sunday's game will also air on RSN. In Pittsburgh, the game will be live on AT&T SportsNet Pittsburgh.

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