Wednesday, November 10
Pittsburgh, Pa.
6:00 PM
Pitt
1-0,0-0ACC
82
vs
63
Radford
0-1,0-0Big South
1
2
3
4
F
Radford
13
9
18
23
63
Pittsburgh
21
16
22
23
82
Photo by: Alex Mowrey/Pitt Athletics
Balanced Attack Leads Pitt To Season-Opening Victory Over Radford, 82-63
11/10/2021 9:53:00 PM | Women's Basketball
PITTSBURGH – Behind a balanced offensive attack that saw all 11 players net at least two points, the Pitt women's basketball team (1-0, 0-0 ACC) opened their 2021-22 campaign in convincing fashion with a 82-63 victory over Radford at the Petersen Events Center Wednesday night.
"It was so fun to be back inside the building with fans as they were able to watch these kids, who have put in so much work and time, go out there and perform." stated head coach Lance White. "I was pleased in a lot of areas tonight but watching our team compete tonight is really exciting for the growth of our program. I was pleased with how we rebounded the ball today and we have to continue to be relentless rebounders to be able to compete in the ACC this year."
Senior captain Jayla Everett led all scorers with 23 points on 8-of-14 from the floor while adding three assists, three rebounds and two steals across 25 minutes of work. Junior Emy Hayford had a career night in the win as she netted 15 points, three rebounds and three assists while going 7-of-8 from the floor.
The difference in the game for the Panthers was their work on the glass as they held a +35 edge in rebounding, grabbing 58 boards in the victory. On the offensive glass, Pitt snagged 27 rebounds and turned those chances into 13 second chance points. The +35 rebound margin is the biggest since Pitt joined the ACC while the 58 rebounds are the most in a game for Pitt since Jan. 10, 2016 when they grabbed 61 against NC State.
Pitt got off to a good start thanks to Everett as she netted seven early points while assisting on a Rita Igbokwe layup to give the Panthers the 9-5 lead two minutes in. After a Radford bucket, Pitt went on a 10-2 run thanks to a Mary Dunn layup and three points from Liatu King off the bench as the Panthers extended their lead to 19-9. Hayford ended the scoring in the quarter with a coast-to-coast layup as Pitt took the 21-13 lead into the second quarter.
After Radford cut the lead to just five with an early triple, the Panthers were able to settle into a groove offensively as Dunn and Amber Brown finished off layups and Everett knocked down another triple to push the Pitt lead out to 30-18. Pitt was able to get points from Destiny Strother, Sandrine Clesca and Taisha Exanor down the stretch of the second quarter to take the 37-22 lead into the locker room.
Pitt came out of the locker room and pushed their lead out to 51-30 after Hayford and Everett connected on back-to-back buckets just over four minutes into the third quarter. After a 6-0 spurt by the Highlanders, Igbokwe converted on back-to-back layups and Brown finished off a strong layup to send the game to the fourth with Pitt leading 59-40.
The fourth quarter was a high scoring affair as both teams netted 23 points but the Highlanders were never able to get within striking distance. Dunn took over in the fourth as she scored seven points including an old fashion three-point play as she finished off a layup through hard contact. The Canadian duo of Exanor and Clesca closed out the scoring in the fourth for Pitt with back-to-back layups to lead the Panthers to the 82-63 victory over Radford.
Playing her first game in her hometown, Dunn finished off her impressive debut with a near double-double as she had 11 points and eight rebounds in 15 minutes of work. King closed out her strong night tying a career-high with 10 rebounds while adding five points and a career-high four assists while Brown did a little bit of everything with seven points, seven rebounds and three assists in 22 minutes of action.
As a team, the Panthers shot 45.9% from the floor while also dominating the fast break scoring category as they netted 27 fast break points compared to just six for Radford. Pitt also dominated the paint in the win, outscoring the visitors 54-24.
Radford was led offensively by Ashley Tudor who netted 12 points off the bench while Kyanna Morgan netted 11 and Rachel LaLonde finished with 10 points and four rebounds in the loss.
UP NEXT
Team
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"It was so fun to be back inside the building with fans as they were able to watch these kids, who have put in so much work and time, go out there and perform." stated head coach Lance White. "I was pleased in a lot of areas tonight but watching our team compete tonight is really exciting for the growth of our program. I was pleased with how we rebounded the ball today and we have to continue to be relentless rebounders to be able to compete in the ACC this year."
Senior captain Jayla Everett led all scorers with 23 points on 8-of-14 from the floor while adding three assists, three rebounds and two steals across 25 minutes of work. Junior Emy Hayford had a career night in the win as she netted 15 points, three rebounds and three assists while going 7-of-8 from the floor.
The difference in the game for the Panthers was their work on the glass as they held a +35 edge in rebounding, grabbing 58 boards in the victory. On the offensive glass, Pitt snagged 27 rebounds and turned those chances into 13 second chance points. The +35 rebound margin is the biggest since Pitt joined the ACC while the 58 rebounds are the most in a game for Pitt since Jan. 10, 2016 when they grabbed 61 against NC State.
Pitt got off to a good start thanks to Everett as she netted seven early points while assisting on a Rita Igbokwe layup to give the Panthers the 9-5 lead two minutes in. After a Radford bucket, Pitt went on a 10-2 run thanks to a Mary Dunn layup and three points from Liatu King off the bench as the Panthers extended their lead to 19-9. Hayford ended the scoring in the quarter with a coast-to-coast layup as Pitt took the 21-13 lead into the second quarter.
After Radford cut the lead to just five with an early triple, the Panthers were able to settle into a groove offensively as Dunn and Amber Brown finished off layups and Everett knocked down another triple to push the Pitt lead out to 30-18. Pitt was able to get points from Destiny Strother, Sandrine Clesca and Taisha Exanor down the stretch of the second quarter to take the 37-22 lead into the locker room.
Pitt came out of the locker room and pushed their lead out to 51-30 after Hayford and Everett connected on back-to-back buckets just over four minutes into the third quarter. After a 6-0 spurt by the Highlanders, Igbokwe converted on back-to-back layups and Brown finished off a strong layup to send the game to the fourth with Pitt leading 59-40.
The fourth quarter was a high scoring affair as both teams netted 23 points but the Highlanders were never able to get within striking distance. Dunn took over in the fourth as she scored seven points including an old fashion three-point play as she finished off a layup through hard contact. The Canadian duo of Exanor and Clesca closed out the scoring in the fourth for Pitt with back-to-back layups to lead the Panthers to the 82-63 victory over Radford.
Playing her first game in her hometown, Dunn finished off her impressive debut with a near double-double as she had 11 points and eight rebounds in 15 minutes of work. King closed out her strong night tying a career-high with 10 rebounds while adding five points and a career-high four assists while Brown did a little bit of everything with seven points, seven rebounds and three assists in 22 minutes of action.
As a team, the Panthers shot 45.9% from the floor while also dominating the fast break scoring category as they netted 27 fast break points compared to just six for Radford. Pitt also dominated the paint in the win, outscoring the visitors 54-24.
Radford was led offensively by Ashley Tudor who netted 12 points off the bench while Kyanna Morgan netted 11 and Rachel LaLonde finished with 10 points and four rebounds in the loss.
UP NEXT
- Pitt returns home on Friday evening as they welcome Lafayette to the Petersen Events Center for a non-conference game. Tip Friday is set for 6:00 pm with the game airing on ACC Network Extra.
Team
- With the win, Pitt improves to 3-0 all-time against Radford.
- The win gives the Panthers three straight home opening victories and six in the last seven years. Pitt has accumulated 35 home opening wins in program history.
- The 58 rebounds for the Panthers marked the most in a game under Coach White and most overall since grabbing 61 against NC State on Jan. 10, 2016.
- The 27 offensive rebounds by the Panthers are tied for the most in a game since Coach White took over the program in 2018.
- Pitt held a +35 margin in rebounds, the biggest rebound margin in a game since joining the ACC in 2013-14.
- All 11 players scored at least two points and grabbed at least one rebound in the win.
- Everett finished with a game-high 23 points, three rebounds, three assists and two steals across 25 minutes of action.
- She finished the game going 8-of-14 from the floor including 3-of-5 from behind the arc.
- It marks her eighth 20+ point game as a Panther and her 15th overall in her collegiate career.
- She has now led the Panthers in scoring 12 times in her career including in three straight games dating back to last year.
- Everett finished off the night with a +/- rating of +32, the highest of any player on the floor.
- Hayford posted a big game in the season opener as she netted a career-high 15 points, three rebounds and three assists across 19 minutes of action.
- Hayford earned the start at point guard and finished the game going 7-of-8 from the floor including a perfect 1-of-1 mark from deep. The seven made field goals are a new career-high for the junior.
- She has now scored in double figures three times in her career.
- Dunn made her homecoming to Pitt and posted a strong game in her debut as she finished with 11 points, eight rebounds, a steal and a block in 15 minutes of work.
- She went 5-of-12 from the floor while also grabbing a team-high four offensive rebounds in the win.
- The sixth year player has now posted 64 career games with 10+ points scored and 55 career games with 5+ rebounds.
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Team Stats
Rad
Pitt
FG%
.386
.459
3FG%
.375
.333
FT%
.929
.500
RB
23
58
TO
17
17
STL
2
8
Game Leaders
Pts
23
FGM
8
3FGM
3
FTM
4
Pts
15
FGM
7
3FGM
1
FTM
0
Pts
7
FGM
3
3FGM
0
FTM
1
Players Mentioned
F
/ Women's Basketball
G
/ Women's Basketball
G
/ Women's BasketballG
/ Women's Basketball
C
/ Women's Basketball
G/F
/ Women's Basketball
G
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