Pitt Heads South To Wake Forest For Final ACC Game of 2022

PITTSBURGH – The Pitt women's basketball team (7-5, 0-1 ACC) hits the road for their final ACC game of 2022 Thursday night as they travel to Winston-Salem to take on the Wake Forest Demon Deacons. Thursday's game will tip at 6:00 pm on ACC Network.

HOW TO FOLLOW

Thursday's game will air live on ACC Network Extra 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

Junior Liatu King had the best scoring performance of her career last time out as she posted a huge double-double with 26 points and 16 rebounds. The 26 points were a career-high while the 16 boards marked a season-high. She is the only player in the NCAA this season to have at least 26 points, 16 rebounds and three blocks while shooting 50% from the floor.
Junior Taisha Exanor had another big game off the bench for Pitt as she netted a career-high 14 points, six rebounds and two assists in the win over North Alabama. She has scored in double figures in back-to-back games for the first time in her career.

THE OPENING TIP

The Panthers return to action Thursday night on the road as they travel to Winston-Salem to take on Wake Forest at 6pm. Thursday's game will air on ACC Network Extra.
Pitt closed out non-conference play with a win as they posted a 7-4 record, securing their 18th winning non-conference season in the past 19 seasons.
The Pitt offense had their second best scoring game of the season in the 85-83 win over North Alabama. The Panthers had five players score in double figures for the first time since Nov. 25, 2017 against Arkansas State.

THE SERIES WITH WAKE FOREST

This meeting marks the 13th game of all-time between the two programs.
Wake Forest owns the 7-5 edge in the all-time series.'
The Panthers have won three of the last four games against Wake Forest including a 65-57 home win last season.
Pitt is 2-2 in games played in Winston-Salem.

LAST TIME OUT – NORTH ALABAMA

The Panthers offense was clicking on all cylinders in their non-conference finale against North Alabama Wednesday afternoon as they collected the 85-83 home victory over the Lions.
As a team, Pitt shot 50% from the floor for the third time this season as they scored 85 points, their second game with 80+ points this season.
Leading the way for the Panthers was junior Liatu King who posted a monster double-double with 26 points and 16 rebounds. The 26 points were a career-high while the 16 boards marked a season-best total.
Pitt had five players score in double figures in the win led by King. Off the bench Taisha Exanor finished with 14 points and six boards while Amber Brown (12 points), Maliyah Johnson (11 points) and Marley Washenitz (10 points) also had double digit scoring games in the win.
Pitt dominated the boards, owning the 45-22 edge in rebounds while also outscoring the Lions 50-28 inside the paint.

BENCH CONTINUES TO CONTRIBUTE

The Pitt bench has made a big impact through the first 12 games this season.
Last time out in the win over North Alabama, Pitt netted 31 bench points for the second straight game. Pitt has scored 30+ bench points in back-to-back games twice this season after not doing that in back-to-back games last season.
In the win over Loyola (MD), Pitt netted a season-high 46 points from the bench. The 46 points were the most by the Panthers in a game since Nov. 7, 2018 against New Orleans.
The Panthers bench is averaging 27.5 points per game so far this season. Pitt set a program record last season scoring an average of 22.4 points per game from their bench.
On the year, Pitt has six games with 30+ bench points after posting only four such games all last season. They have also scored 20+ bench points in nine of the past 10 games.

KING OF THE COURT

Junior Liatu King has shown major growth so far this season as she is blossoming into a premier threat down low for the Panthers.
King has earned 11 starts for the Panthers this season and is averaging a team-high 11.8 points, 9.1 rebounds and 1.7 blocks while shooting 46.7% from the floor. She currently ranks 5th in the ACC in rebounding (9.1 rpg), 6th in blocks (1.7 bpg) and 9th in field goal percentage (46.7%).
Last time out, King exploded for the best game of her career as she finished off her seventh career double-double with a career-high 26 points, 16 rebounds, three blocks, two assists and a steal in 30 minutes of work against North Alabama.
King now has two double-doubles on the year with at least 25 points and 11 rebounds. She is the only player in the ACC with two such games this season.
She is the only player in the nation to post a statline of at least 26 points, 16 rebounds and three blocks while shooting 50% from the floor.
King has grabbed at least 10 rebounds in five games this season while also posting three double-doubles. She now has seven career double-doubles for the Panthers.
Over her career, King has grabbed at least five rebounds in 34 of her 58 career games. She has led the Panthers in rebounding 20 times while snagging 10+ boards 12 times in her career.
The Washington, DC native has scored in double figures 18 times in her career (five this year) while scoring 20+ points three times (twice this year).

NEXT UP

Pitt returns home Sunday, Jan. 1 as they welcome the Miami Hurricanes to the Petersen Events Center for a 2:00 pm ACC game. Sunday's game will air on ACC Network Extra.

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