Panthers Welcome Ball State Sunday For 2nd Annual ASL Deaf Awareness Game

PITTSBURGH – The Pitt women's basketball team (6-3, 0-0 ACC) will welcome the Ball State Cardinals to the Petersen Events Center Sunday at noon for their 2^nd Annual ASL Deaf Awareness Game. Sunday's game will air on ACC Network.

HOW TO FOLLOW

Sunday's game will air live on ACC Network and can be viewed 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

Freshman Avery Strickland has continued to make strides for Pitt and last time out she had the best game of her career. Strickland netted a career-high 17 points off the bench as she finished the game going 7-for-8 from the floor and 3-for-4 from behind the arc in the win over Loyola (MD). Over her last four games she is averaging 9.8 ppg while shooting 55.6% from the floor.
Junior forward Liatu King is enjoying a great start to her season as she is leading Pitt in scoring (10.4 ppg) and rebounding (8.9 rpg) while shooting 48.7% from the floor. King currently ranks 5th in the ACC in rebounding.

THE OPENING TIP

Pitt returns home Sunday afternoon as they welcome Ball State to the Petersen Events Center for a 12:00 pm tip. Sunday's game will air on ACC Network.
Sunday's game will be the 2nd Annual ASL Deaf Awareness Game for the Panthers as they look to shed some light on the deaf community through various things in-game. The first 500 fans will receive a Pitt ASL T-Shirt while there will be a section designated for deaf fans where a translator will help interpret what is happening in venue. There will also be various "Did You Know" facts as well as some other ASL activities.

THE SERIES WITH BALL STATE

This meeting marks the fifth between the two squads in the all-time series.
Pitt has won all four previous meetings in the series including a 64-54 road win last season.
The Panthers are 2-0 all-time against the Cardinals at the Pete.

LAST TIME OUT – LOYOLA (MD)

The Panthers returned home Wednesday night and got back on track with a dominant 78-42 victory over Loyola (MD). The Panthers stingy defense held the Greyhounds to a season-low 17.9% shooting from the floor while Pitt shot 54.2% in the win.
Freshman Avery Strickland came off the bench and had a career night for the Panthers as she netted a career-high 17 points, two rebounds and two steals while going 7-for-8 from the floor and 3-for-4 from behind the arc.
Gabby Hutcherson made an impact off the Pitt bench as she netted 12 points, five rebounds and two assists in the win while Dayshanette Harris netted 10 points and a season-high four steals.
The Panthers won the points off turnover battle 28-7 while also owning the 36-8 lead in scoring inside the paint.

DEFENSE LEADING THE WAY FOR PITT

The Panthers have leaned on their strong defense to start the season and it earned them six double digit wins to open the 2022-23 campaign.
Pitt currently ranks 4th in the ACC in field goal percentage defense (34.4%) while also ranking 8th in three-point field goal defense (28.5%). The Panthers are holding opponents to 60.2 ppg so far this season.
Pitt held four of its first nine opponents to 45 points or less for the first time in program history. The Panthers are one of just eight teams in the country to have four games with opponents scoring 45 points or less (South Carolina, Virginia Tech, USC, ETSU, Kansas State, Duke, Stanford).
Last time out, Pitt held the Greyhounds to just 17.9% shooting in the win. It marked the lowest field goal percentage against the Panthers in over 15 years. There have only been nine games this season with a team shooting 17.9% or worse from the field.
Dating back to last season, the Panthers have now held 37 of their last 39 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.
Over the last 17 games dating back to last year, the Panthers are holding opponents to just 28.0% shooting from behind the arc.
The Panthers own a 23-9 record when they hold opponents to 59 points or less since Lance White took over the program in 2018-19.
The Pitt defense has been forcing turnovers at a high rate through nine games as they have 82 total steals. It marks the most through nine games by Pitt since 2016-17 (91).
The Panthers opened the season allowing just 41 points at Coppin State which marked the lowest total against in a season opener since 2015-16.

NEXT UP

The Panthers will have a week off before returning to the Pete for their ACC opener against Louisville on Sunday, Dec. 18.
Sunday's game will tip at 2:00 pm and air live on the ACC Network.

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