City Game On Tap For Women's Basketball Saturday Night At Duquesne

PITTSBURGH – Winners of three straight home games to open the season, the Pitt women's basketball team (3-0, 0-0 ACC) hits the road for their first test away from home on Saturday night as they travel to crosstown rival Duquesne for the 39^th edition of the City Game. Saturday's battle of Pittsburgh will take place at the UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse on Duquesne's campus and will tip at 8:00 pm.

HOW TO FOLLOW

Saturday's game will be aired live on ESPN+ by clicking HERE.
You can also listen to the game on the radio on WJAS 1320 AM or 99.1 FM as the voice of Pitt women's basketball, Josh Rowntree, will have the call from the Pete starting at 7:45 pm. Listen to the call by clicking HERE.
Live stats of 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 WITH DUQUESNE

This meeting marks the 39^th all-time between the crosstown rivals with the Panthers holding the 21-17 lead in the series.
The series is tied 8-8 in games played at Duquesne but the Panthers won the last meeting on the road on Dec. 29, 2018 by the score of 66-58.
Last year was the first year since 1982-83 that the two sides didn't meet in a regular season game.

SCOUTING THE DUKES

The Dukes enter Saturday night's game with a 1-3 overall record after falling to Longwood Wednesday by the score of 77-76.
Duquesne is being led offensively by Fatou Pouye who is averaging 13.3 points and 5.0 rebounds across 23.5 minutes per game. Tess Myers is also enjoying a nice start to her season as she ranks second on the team in scoring (13.0 ppg) and grabbing 4.0 rpg while netting a team-best 13 triples.
Megan McConnell is doing a little of everything for the Dukes as she is averaging 9.0 points, a team-high 7.0 rebounds, a team-high 4.3 assists and a team-best 2.5 steals while playing 37.8 minutes per game.

As a team, Duquesne is averaging 59.3 ppg while allowing 67.3 ppg. They are shooting 36.1% from the floor while allowing opponents to shoot 40.1%.

STORYLINES

The Panthers have continued to put an emphasis on rebounding the basketball and it has worked early on. Pitt currently leads the ACC and is tied for third in the NCAA in rebounds per game (53.7). Pitt also ranks second in the NCAA in rebound margin (+24.3) and tied for fourth in offensive rebounds per game (20.3).
The Pitt offense is off to their best start in over 40 years as they are averaging 82.0 ppg through their first three games. The 246 points are the most through three games for Pitt since 1984-85 (248) and are the third most in program history. Pitt has scored 80+ points twice this season and are 7-0 when scoring 80+ under Lance White.

THE OPENING TIP

Pitt will hit the road for their first road game of the season Saturday night as they take on Duquesne at 8:00 pm at the UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse. Saturday's game will air on ESPN+.
Senior guard Jayla Everett is enjoying a strong start to her second as a Panther as she ranks fourth in the ACC in scoring (18.3 ppg) while also adding 2.3 rpg, 2.0 apg and 2.0 spg. She currently sits just 17 points shy of 1000 points for her collegiate career.
Junior sharpshooter Destiny Strother burst onto the scene against LIU Wednesday night as she made her first career start. Strother finished her night with career-highs in points (17), assists (4), rebounds (4) and three-pointers made (5) as Pitt cruised to victory.

LAST TIME OUT – LIU

The Panthers completely dominated LIU from beginning to end on Wednesday as they secured their ninth biggest margin of defeat in program history, handing the Sharks a 92-41 loss.
Pitt had three players score in double figures led by Destiny Strother who netted a career-high 17. Sandrine Clesca finished with 13 points, all in the fourth quarter, while Jayla Everett had 12 points in 15 minutes of work.
The Pitt offense netted 92 points which marked the most under White and most overall against a Division I team since scoring 93 against Delaware State on Dec. 30, 2014.

REBOUNDING PROWESS

One of the biggest points of emphasis for head coach Lance White since taking over the Panthers program prior to the 2018-19 season was rebounding. Pitt has taken that to heart through the first four years under White's guidance.
The Panthers are the best rebounding team in the ACC and are tied for third in the NCAA so far this season as they are averaging 53.7 rpg. Pitt and Georgia are tied for first in the NCAA in rebounding among teams with at least three games played.
The 161 total rebounds through three games are the most through the first three games of a season in program history.
Pitt also ranks second in the NCAA in rebound margin (+24.3 rpg) and tied for fourth in offensive rebounds per game (20.3).
The Panthers are currently the only team in the ACC to have five players averaging at least 6.0 rpg led by Rita Igbokwe who leads the team with 8.3 rpg.

OFFENSIVE FIREPOWER

The Pitt offense is enjoying their best start to a season in over 30 years as they are averaging 82.0 ppg through three wins.
The potent offensive attack has netted a total of 246 points which is the third most overall in program history through three games and the most since scoring 248 points in 1984-85.
Pitt has scored 80+ points twice this season and currently own a 7-0 record when they net at least 80 under White.
Last time out, Pitt netted a season-high 92 points in the win over LIU which marked the most they've scored under Lance White. The 92 points scored are the most by Pitt against a Division I opponent since Dec. 30, 2014 when they netted 93 in a win over Delaware State.
Eight Panthers are currently averaging at least 6.0 ppg so far this season led by Jayla Everett (18.3 ppg). Pitt, Duke and NC State are the only ACC teams that have eight players averaging at least 6.0 ppg this season.

NEXT UP

The Panthers will hit the road for three games at the Paradise Jam in St. Thomas in the U.S. Virgin Islands. The Panthers open the tournament on Thursday, Nov. 25 against nationally-ranked Texas A&M before playing Northwestern on Friday, Nov. 26 and South Dakota on Saturday, Nov. 27.

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