Wednesday, November 17
Pittsburgh, Pa.
6:00 PM
Pitt
3-0,0-0ACC
92
vs
41
LIU
0-2,0-0NEC
1
2
3
4
F
LIU
7
13
12
9
41
Pittsburgh
28
27
16
21
92
Pitt Routs LIU 92-41 Behind Career Night From Destiny Strother
11/17/2021 10:02:00 PM | Women's Basketball
PITTSBURGH – Behind career nights by Destiny Strother and Sandrine Clesca, the Pitt women's basketball team (3-0, 0-0 ACC) remained unbeaten Wednesday night as they powered past LIU, 92-41, in front of the home fans at the Petersen Events Center. Strother netted a career-high 17 points while Clesca finished with a career-high of her own, netting 13 points off the bench in the win.
The 92 points are the most scored under Coach White and the most overall for Pitt since Dec. 30, 2014 when they netted 93 in a win over Delaware State. All 12 Panthers netted at least four points in the win while the 51-point victory also marked the ninth largest margin of victory in program history.
"I'm really excited about this win," expressed Lance White. "There are moments when we are a really good basketball team and it's really fun to see contributions from a lot of different players that are able to step in and make plays. There isn't that drop off whenever we go to our bench, we can use a lot of players and they can sustain what we are doing out there. Overall I was pleased with how we started the game and played well for a long period of time and that's who we have to continue to be."
The Panthers were able to set the tone for the game early on as they opened the game on a 12-0 run thanks to five points from Jayla Everett and five points from Strother. After a LIU triple, Strother knocked down her second triple of the first quarter and Maliyah Johnson finished off a fast break layup after a great feed from Taisha Exanor to give Pitt the 21-3 lead with two minutes left in the first. Emy Hayford and Tracey Hueston made back-to-back layups before Exanor connected on her first triple to send the game to the second with Pitt leading 28-7.
Returning from a knee injury, Dayshanette Harris started the second quarter for Pitt and immediately made an impact as she finished off back-to-back layups as she looked to be back to her usual self. Pitt was able to push their lead out to 30, 40-10, midway through the second quarter as Rita Igbokwe and Mary Dunn converted on layups. Strother and Dunn took over the scoring down the final minutes of the first half for the Panthers. Strother knocked down three triples across the final four minutes while Dunn added six more points to give Pitt the 55-20 lead heading into the locker room.
The two teams opened the third quarter with some sloppy play as they each turned the ball over six times in the quarter. Hayford opened the scoring in the quarter with a driving layup before Liatu King and Maliyah Johnson each netted a bucket to give Pitt the 61-24 lead midway through the quarter. Everett took over the final 10 seconds of the third quarter as she netted a triple and a jumper at the buzzer to send Pitt to the fourth with the 71-32 lead.
Pitt once again dominated the Sharks in the final 10 minutes as they won the scoring battle 21-9 in the final frame. Clesca was the catalyst for the Panthers in the final frame as she netted all 13 of her points in the quarter while also notching two steals while going a perfect 4-of-4 from the floor as Pitt handed the Sharks the 92-41 defeat.
The Panthers offensive attack was spearheaded by Strother who finished with a career-high 17 points, four rebounds and four assists while going 6-of-8 from the floor and 5-of-7 from behind the arc as she made her first collegiate start. Clesca finished her game with a career-high 13 points, five assists, three steals and three rebounds while Everett netted 12 points, three rebounds and two steals in just 15 minutes of work.
Exanor had a career night on the glass as she grabbed a career-best 11 rebounds to go along with four points, a steal, a block and an assist. Amber Brown finished her game with nine points, three rebounds and two steals while Dunn came off the bench and netted eight points and five boards. Playing in her first game this season, Harris finished with six points, six rebounds and two assists in 10 minutes of work.
As a team, Pitt shot a season-best 47.8% from the floor while holding the Sharks to just 26.2% shooting on the night. The Panthers also held the 55-29 edge in rebounds while forcing 27 LIU turnovers which turned into 36 points for Pitt in the win.
NEXT UP
Team
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The 92 points are the most scored under Coach White and the most overall for Pitt since Dec. 30, 2014 when they netted 93 in a win over Delaware State. All 12 Panthers netted at least four points in the win while the 51-point victory also marked the ninth largest margin of victory in program history.
"I'm really excited about this win," expressed Lance White. "There are moments when we are a really good basketball team and it's really fun to see contributions from a lot of different players that are able to step in and make plays. There isn't that drop off whenever we go to our bench, we can use a lot of players and they can sustain what we are doing out there. Overall I was pleased with how we started the game and played well for a long period of time and that's who we have to continue to be."
The Panthers were able to set the tone for the game early on as they opened the game on a 12-0 run thanks to five points from Jayla Everett and five points from Strother. After a LIU triple, Strother knocked down her second triple of the first quarter and Maliyah Johnson finished off a fast break layup after a great feed from Taisha Exanor to give Pitt the 21-3 lead with two minutes left in the first. Emy Hayford and Tracey Hueston made back-to-back layups before Exanor connected on her first triple to send the game to the second with Pitt leading 28-7.
Returning from a knee injury, Dayshanette Harris started the second quarter for Pitt and immediately made an impact as she finished off back-to-back layups as she looked to be back to her usual self. Pitt was able to push their lead out to 30, 40-10, midway through the second quarter as Rita Igbokwe and Mary Dunn converted on layups. Strother and Dunn took over the scoring down the final minutes of the first half for the Panthers. Strother knocked down three triples across the final four minutes while Dunn added six more points to give Pitt the 55-20 lead heading into the locker room.
The two teams opened the third quarter with some sloppy play as they each turned the ball over six times in the quarter. Hayford opened the scoring in the quarter with a driving layup before Liatu King and Maliyah Johnson each netted a bucket to give Pitt the 61-24 lead midway through the quarter. Everett took over the final 10 seconds of the third quarter as she netted a triple and a jumper at the buzzer to send Pitt to the fourth with the 71-32 lead.
Pitt once again dominated the Sharks in the final 10 minutes as they won the scoring battle 21-9 in the final frame. Clesca was the catalyst for the Panthers in the final frame as she netted all 13 of her points in the quarter while also notching two steals while going a perfect 4-of-4 from the floor as Pitt handed the Sharks the 92-41 defeat.
The Panthers offensive attack was spearheaded by Strother who finished with a career-high 17 points, four rebounds and four assists while going 6-of-8 from the floor and 5-of-7 from behind the arc as she made her first collegiate start. Clesca finished her game with a career-high 13 points, five assists, three steals and three rebounds while Everett netted 12 points, three rebounds and two steals in just 15 minutes of work.
Exanor had a career night on the glass as she grabbed a career-best 11 rebounds to go along with four points, a steal, a block and an assist. Amber Brown finished her game with nine points, three rebounds and two steals while Dunn came off the bench and netted eight points and five boards. Playing in her first game this season, Harris finished with six points, six rebounds and two assists in 10 minutes of work.
As a team, Pitt shot a season-best 47.8% from the floor while holding the Sharks to just 26.2% shooting on the night. The Panthers also held the 55-29 edge in rebounds while forcing 27 LIU turnovers which turned into 36 points for Pitt in the win.
NEXT UP
- Pitt will hit the road for their first game of the season away from the Pete Saturday night as they head to crosstown rival Duquesne for the City Game. Saturday's game will tip at 8:00 pm in the UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse and will air on ESPN+.
Team
- With the win, Pitt is now 1-0 all-time against LIU and 31-3 all-time against opponents from the Northeast Conference.
- Pitt improves to 3-0 for the first time since the 2016-17 campaign when they started 6-0.
- The Panthers had a season-high 21 assists on 33 made baskets as nine different players notched at least one assist in the win.
- With 55 rebounds on Wednesday, Pitt has now grabbed 48 or more rebounds in each of the first three games of the season for the first time in program history.
- Pitt shot a season-high 47.8% from the floor as they have now shot better than 45% from the floor in all three games this season.
- The Panthers notched 17 steals in the win, it marked the most in a game since recording 17 in a road win over Wake Forest on Feb. 28, 2019.
- All 12 players who saw the floor tonight netted at least four points and grabbed one rebound in the win.
- Strother finished off the best game of her career with career-highs in points (17), rebounds (4) and assists (4) across 23 minutes of action.
- The junior finished her night going 6-of-8 from the floor overall and 5-of-7 from behind the arc. Her five three-pointers marked a new career-high.
- She has now scored in double figures five times in her Pitt career while connecting on multiple three-pointers in 12 games as a Panther.
- She finished off the game with a +/- rating of +25, a career-best rating in the win.
- Clesca had a career night in the big win for Pitt as she netted 13 points, five assists, three rebounds and three steals across 19 minutes of action. She finished the night going 4-of-8 from the floor and a perfect 4-of-4 from the free throw line while also connecting on a triple.
- The 13 points, five assists, three rebounds and three steals were all career-highs for the sophomore.
- She has now recorded multiple assists in all three games this season and in six games in her Pitt career.
- The sophomore has scored in double figures twice in her collegiate career while notching multiple steals in two career games.
- The guard had a +/- rating of +24 in the win, a new career-best rating.
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Team Stats
LIU
Pitt
FG%
.262
.478
3FG%
.217
.474
FT%
.571
.630
RB
29
55
TO
27
23
STL
7
17
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
17
FGM
6
3FGM
5
FTM
0
Pts
13
FGM
4
3FGM
1
FTM
4
Pts
12
FGM
4
3FGM
2
FTM
2
Pts
9
FGM
2
3FGM
0
FTM
5
Players Mentioned
F
/ Women's BasketballG
/ Women's Basketball
G
/ Women's Basketball
G
/ Women's Basketball
G
/ Women's Basketball
F
/ Women's Basketball
C
/ Women's Basketball
G/F
/ Women's Basketball
G/F
/ Women's BasketballG
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