Panthers Offense Explodes For 93 Points In School Day Win Over Bryant
11/16/2022 2:29:00 PM | Women's Basketball
PITTSBURGH – In front of 3,154 kids on School Day at the Petersen Events Center, the Pitt women's basketball team (3-0, 0-0 ACC) put on a show as they were able to secure their third straight win to open the season, downing Bryant 93-54. The 93 points scored are the most in a game for the Panthers against a Division I opponent since 2014.
"I thought we took a huge step forward today as a basketball team and I think we are defining who we are," said head coach Lance White. "I was really proud of our 26 assists and our kids really wanting to create open shots for their teammates. That's been a huge emphasis from the offseason, summer and fall of how we create better shots for each other, and I think we did that today."
The Panthers shot 60.7% from the floor in the win, the first time they have shot at least 60% from the floor since Dec. 29, 2012 against Buffalo. Pitt also shot 52.2% from behind the arc, shooting over 50% from deep for the first time since Dec. 10, 2020 against Virginia Tech.
"The crowd really energized our players right from the start and that atmosphere really helps us so much and so I really want to thank them for doing that for us," stated White.
Sophomore Maliyah Johnson had the game of her career in the win as she finished with a game-high 20 points, three rebounds and two assists. She finished off her afternoon going 7-for-9 from the floor and 4-for-6 from behind the arc. Junior Liatu King finished off her fifth career double-double with 10 points and a season-high 14 rebounds while Dayshanette Harris finished with a season-high 17 points and three steals on 6-for-10 from the floor.
The Pitt offense got out to a great start as Amber Brown opened the scoring with a layup and Johnson connected on a triple. After a Bryant layup made it 7-5 in favor of Pitt, Gabby Hutcherson finished off back-to-back layups to force a Bryant timeout and give the Panthers the 14-5 lead at the first media timeout. Hutcherson came out of the break and knocked down her first triple before Channise Lewis finished the scoring in the first with a fancy layup under a defender to give Pitt the 22-12 lead through 10 minutes.
Freshman Aislin Malcolm gave the Panthers a big boost early in the second quarter as she finished off a driving layup and drilled a corner triple to extend the Pitt lead to 33-16. Avery Strickland netted her first triple of the game and Johnson finished off a slashing layup to give the Panthers a 40-21 lead at the media timeout. Taisha Exanor came off the bench to score five points down the stretch of the half to send Pitt to the locker room with the 47-29 lead. The Panthers shot 52.9% from the floor in the opening half.
The Panthers came out strong in the third quarter and put the Bulldogs away as they connected on six three-pointers in the quarter while outscoring the Bulldogs 23-15. Harris opened the scoring with a deep triple while Johnson took over with three triples in the quarter to extend the Pitt lead out to 70-44 at the end of the third.
The bench players got some strong minutes in across the final 10 minutes after King opened the quarter with eight points to notch her first double-double of the season. Strickland finished off back-to-back layups and Marley Washenitz netted her first career bucket, a layup, after a great steal on the defensive end of the court. Sandrine Clesca finished the scoring in the quarter with a jumper as Pitt outscored Bryant 23-10 over the final 10 minutes to secure the 93-54 home victory.
As a team, Pitt shot a season-high 60.7% from the floor and 52.2% from behind the arc while holding the Bulldogs to just 35.6% from the floor and 24% from deep. Pitt outrebounded the Bulldogs 43-25 while also owning the 42-22 edge in scoring in the paint. The Panthers also turned 17 turnovers into 17 points in the win.
The Bulldogs were led offensively by Mariona Planes Fortuny who netted 16 points and four rebounds while Marta Neira Martinez finished off her game with 15 points and six rebounds in the loss.
UP NEXT
The Panthers return home Saturday night as they welcome the Duquesne Dukes for the 40th edition of the City Game. Saturday's game will tip at 6:00 pm at the Petersen Events Center and will air on ACC Network Extra.
PITT NOTES
Team
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"I thought we took a huge step forward today as a basketball team and I think we are defining who we are," said head coach Lance White. "I was really proud of our 26 assists and our kids really wanting to create open shots for their teammates. That's been a huge emphasis from the offseason, summer and fall of how we create better shots for each other, and I think we did that today."
The Panthers shot 60.7% from the floor in the win, the first time they have shot at least 60% from the floor since Dec. 29, 2012 against Buffalo. Pitt also shot 52.2% from behind the arc, shooting over 50% from deep for the first time since Dec. 10, 2020 against Virginia Tech.
"The crowd really energized our players right from the start and that atmosphere really helps us so much and so I really want to thank them for doing that for us," stated White.
School Day SUCCESS ?
— Pitt Basketball (@Pitt_WBB) November 16, 2022
Panthers score a season-high 9?3? points led by @_Mbucketss' career-high 20!#H2P pic.twitter.com/1QSyoOuaOP
Sophomore Maliyah Johnson had the game of her career in the win as she finished with a game-high 20 points, three rebounds and two assists. She finished off her afternoon going 7-for-9 from the floor and 4-for-6 from behind the arc. Junior Liatu King finished off her fifth career double-double with 10 points and a season-high 14 rebounds while Dayshanette Harris finished with a season-high 17 points and three steals on 6-for-10 from the floor.
The Pitt offense got out to a great start as Amber Brown opened the scoring with a layup and Johnson connected on a triple. After a Bryant layup made it 7-5 in favor of Pitt, Gabby Hutcherson finished off back-to-back layups to force a Bryant timeout and give the Panthers the 14-5 lead at the first media timeout. Hutcherson came out of the break and knocked down her first triple before Channise Lewis finished the scoring in the first with a fancy layup under a defender to give Pitt the 22-12 lead through 10 minutes.
Freshman Aislin Malcolm gave the Panthers a big boost early in the second quarter as she finished off a driving layup and drilled a corner triple to extend the Pitt lead to 33-16. Avery Strickland netted her first triple of the game and Johnson finished off a slashing layup to give the Panthers a 40-21 lead at the media timeout. Taisha Exanor came off the bench to score five points down the stretch of the half to send Pitt to the locker room with the 47-29 lead. The Panthers shot 52.9% from the floor in the opening half.
The Panthers came out strong in the third quarter and put the Bulldogs away as they connected on six three-pointers in the quarter while outscoring the Bulldogs 23-15. Harris opened the scoring with a deep triple while Johnson took over with three triples in the quarter to extend the Pitt lead out to 70-44 at the end of the third.
The bench players got some strong minutes in across the final 10 minutes after King opened the quarter with eight points to notch her first double-double of the season. Strickland finished off back-to-back layups and Marley Washenitz netted her first career bucket, a layup, after a great steal on the defensive end of the court. Sandrine Clesca finished the scoring in the quarter with a jumper as Pitt outscored Bryant 23-10 over the final 10 minutes to secure the 93-54 home victory.
As a team, Pitt shot a season-high 60.7% from the floor and 52.2% from behind the arc while holding the Bulldogs to just 35.6% from the floor and 24% from deep. Pitt outrebounded the Bulldogs 43-25 while also owning the 42-22 edge in scoring in the paint. The Panthers also turned 17 turnovers into 17 points in the win.
The Bulldogs were led offensively by Mariona Planes Fortuny who netted 16 points and four rebounds while Marta Neira Martinez finished off her game with 15 points and six rebounds in the loss.
UP NEXT
The Panthers return home Saturday night as they welcome the Duquesne Dukes for the 40th edition of the City Game. Saturday's game will tip at 6:00 pm at the Petersen Events Center and will air on ACC Network Extra.
PITT NOTES
Team
- With the win, Pitt improves to 2-0 all-time against Bryant
- With the win, Pitt is now 9-3 in School Day games at the Petersen Events Center
- Pitt improves to 3-0 for the second straight season
- The Panthers shot a season-high 60.7% from the floor and 52.2% from behind the arc in the win
- Pitt netted a season-high 42 points in the paint while the bench chipped in with 33 points in the win
- Pitt has held each of their first three opponents to under 36% shooting from the floor and under 25% from behind the arc
- Pitt has held each of their first three opponents to under 55 points so far this season, marking the first time Pitt has done that to start a season since 2016-17
- Johnson finished off her game with a career-high 20 points, three rebounds, two assists and a steal in 20 minutes of action
- She went 7-for-9 from the floor and 4-for-6 from behind the arc
- The 20-point effort marked Johnson's first double digit scoring game of her career
- The four three-pointers marked a career-high for the sophomore
- The two assists tied for a career-high
- She has now played 20+ minutes in all three games this season and in five games in her career
- King finished off her afternoon with 10 points, 14 rebounds, two assists and a steal in 20 minutes of work while going 5-for-7 from the floor
- The 10-point and 14-rebound game marked King's fifth career double-double
- The 10-point game gives her 14 career double digit scoring games across her career
- She now has nine career games with 10+ rebounds
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Team Stats
BRY
UP
FG%
.356
.607
3FG%
.240
.522
FT%
.750
.467
RB
25
43
TO
17
16
STL
6
10
Game Leaders
Scoring
Players Mentioned
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