Pitt Hosts Bryant Wednesday Morning For School Day Game

PITTSBURGH - The University of Pittsburgh women's basketball team (2-0, 0-0 ACC) will host their 12^th School Day game Wednesday morning as they welcome the Bryant Bulldogs to the Petersen Events Center. Wednesday's non-conference battle will tip at 11:00 am and air live on ACC Network Extra.

HOW TO FOLLOW

Wednesday's game will air live on ACC Network Extra 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.

STORYLINES

This year's squad is the most experienced for head coach Lance White as the roster features 10 upperclassmen and four underclassmen. The roster has combined to appear in 625 career games and start 261 career games.
The Pitt defense put together another strong showing last time out as they held George Mason to just 45 points on 32.7% shooting overall and 20.0% from behind the arc. Pitt has now held their first two opponents to 45 points or less for the first time in a season since 1999-2000. The Panthers lead the ACC in three-point field goal percentage defense (.158) while ranking third in scoring defense (43.0 ppg) and field goal percentage defense (.292).

THE OPENING TIP

The Panthers welcome the Bryant Bulldogs Wednesday morning for at 11:00 am for their School Day game. Wednesday's game will air on ACC Network Extra.
Wednesday's game will mark the 12th School Day game for the Panthers as they own a 8-3 record in the previous 11 games. 3,300 school-aged kids are expected on Wednesday.
The front court duo of Amber Brown and Liatu King had a big game for the Panthers in their home opening win over George Mason as they combined to net 22 points, 16 rebounds, five blocks, five steals and three assists while shooting 52.9% from the floor.

LAST TIME OUT – GEORGE MASON

The Panthers improved to 2-0 for the third straight season Saturday night as they collected a 63-45 home opening win over George Mason.
Pitt was led offensively by Amber Brown who netted a season-high 15 points and five rebounds while Dayshanette Harris chipped in with 12 points, four rebounds, two assists and two steals in the win.
Liatu King had a strong all-around game as she finished with seven points, a season-high 11 rebounds, four blocks and four steals while Maliyah Johnson chipped in with five points and a career-high eight boards.
The Panthers defense held the Patriots to just 32.7% from the floor while forcing 22 turnovers in the win. Pitt finished the game with a season-high 15 steals and six blocks.

SCHOOL DAY GAMES

Wednesday's game marks the 12th year of the School Day promotion at the Petersen Events Center.
School Day is an opportunity for local area students to watch live Division I basketball while participating in fun contests and learning activities.
The School Day game dates back to November 2009. Pitt is 8-3 all-time when hosting the promotion, winning four of the last five.
Across the 11 years of the promotion, the Panthers have averaged 6,058 fans per game.

Date           Opponent         Result             Crowd
11/17/09    No. Florida        W, 61-35          4,276
11/12/10    Youngstown St.    W, 78-58          4,143
11/18/11    Loyola (MD)      W, 65-59          5,031
11/9/12      Youngstown St.     L, 64-50             4,036
11/8/13      Bucknell           W, 66-51          4,698
11/14/14    Princeton          L, 59-43             3,798
11/13/15    Wagner             W, 67-41          3,906
11/14/16    Youngstown St.     W, 63-50          9,771
11/13/17    Cornell             W, 51-39          10,587
11/7/18      UCF                  L, 61-58             9,657
11/19/19    FDU                  W, 69-60          6,730

DEFENSE LEADING THE WAY

The Panthers have leaned on their strong defense to start the season and it has earned them a pair of double-digit victories to open the 2022-23 campaign.
Pitt has continued their tough defense from the end of last season as they held George Mason to just 45 points on 32.7% shooting from the floor and 20% from behind the arc in the win Saturday.
Dating back to last season, the Panthers have now held 31 of their last 32 opponents to 45% or under shooting from the floor. Last season Pitt was one of two squads (South Carolina) to hold at least 29 opponents to 45% or less shooting.
The Panthers defense has now held back-to-back opponents to 45 points or less to open the season for the first time since 1999-2000.
The 41 points against in the season opening win over Coppin State marked the lowest total against in a season opener since 2015-16.
Pitt has now held seven opponents to less than 50 points scored since Lance White took over the program, winning all seven of those games.
Pitt recorded nine blocked shots in the win, their most in a season opener since joining the ACC in 2013-14.
In the win over George Mason, the Panthers posted 15 steals which marked the most in a game since Dec. 6, 2021 against Holy Cross.
Last season, the Panthers held nine ACC teams to under 70 points (including seven of the last eight), their most in a season since 2014-15 (10).

HARRIS TAKING LEAD ROLE OFFENSIVELY

Senior guard Dayshanette Harris has been a great player over her career for Pitt but she will be looking to take an even bigger step forward this season. With the additions to the squad, Harris will move to the two guard spot and will be looked to as the number one scoring option for Pitt.
The senior had another strong game Saturday as she netted 12 points, four rebounds, two steals and two assists in 26 minutes of work as Pitt downed George Mason.
The double figure scoring effort gives her a team-high 42 for her career including in three straight games dating back to last season.
She led the Panthers in assists for the 45th time in her career and for the fourth straight game dating back to last season.
Harris capped her junior season appearing in 27 games and starting 19 while leading the team in scoring (9.6 ppg) and assists (2.9 apg). She added 2.9 rebounds per game while shooting a career-high 34% from behind the arc.
Harris was one of two players in the ACC (Teisha Hyman) last season to average at least 9.5 ppg, 2.9 rpg, 2.9 apg and shoot at least 75% from the free throw line.
She has nine career games with 20+ points including two against Virginia Tech.
Harris is the fastest Pitt player to 800 career points (69 games) since assistant coach Brianna Kiesel netted her 800th career point in her 57th career game.
She also became the fastest Pitt player in program history to record at least 800 points, 250 rebounds and 175 assists (69 games).
Harris is just 153 points shy of becoming the 20th player in Pitt history to score 1,000 career points.

NEXT UP

The Panthers return home Saturday night at 6:00 pm as they welcome cross-town rival Duquesne to the Petersen Events Center for the 40^th City Game.
Pitt leads the all-time series over the Dukes 22-17 as they downed them last season on the road, 69-64.
Saturday's game will air live on ACC Network Extra.

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