Pitt Hosts Boston College Thursday Night For Black History Month Game

PITTSBURGH – The Pitt women's basketball team (9-16, 2-12 ACC) will be looking for their third win in their last four games Thursday night as they welcome the Boston College Eagles to the Petersen Events Center for an ACC showdown. Tip is set for 6:00 pm with the game airing live on ACC Network Extra.

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.
The game will also air live on the radio on 1320 AM WJAS and can be listened to by clicking HERE. The voice of the Panthers Josh Rowntree will get things started with the pregame show at 5:45 pm from the Pete.
Live updates throughout the game will also be posted on Twitter by following the Pitt women's basketball account @Pitt_WBB.

STORYLINES

Senior captain Dayshanette Harris is finding her groove over the past six games as she has led Pitt in scoring in five of those games. Harris netted 15 points, 10 in overtime, in the road double overtime win at Georgia Tech Sunday. Over her past six games, she is averaging 13.5 points, 3.5 rebounds, 1.5 assists and 1.5 steals while shooting 51.7% from the floor.
Junior Liatu King is enjoying the best season of her career as she is averaging a career-high 10.1 points and 7.8 rebounds while shooting 40.4% from the floor. King ranks 4th in the ACC in blocks (1.5 bpg) and 5th in rebounds (7.8 rpg).

THE OPENING TIP

Pitt opens a three-game homestand Thursday night as they welcome Boston College for a 6pm tip on ACC Network Extra.
Sophomore Maliyah Johnson has been one of the most improved players in the ACC as she improved her scoring from 1.9 ppg last season to 8.5 ppg this season. Last time out in the win over GT, she netted 16 points as she now has a career-high 11 double figure scoring games on the year.
In Sunday's road overtime win, Pitt had five players score in double figures including three with 15+ points. It marked the first time since 3/2/16 Pitt had three players score at least 15 points in the same game.

THE SERIES WITH BOSTON COLLEGE

This meeting marks the 54th between the two programs with Boston College leading the series 34-19.
The Eagles have won four straight in the series with Pitt's last win coming on Feb. 16, 2021.
BC holds the slim 14-10 edge in games played in Pittsburgh.
The last win against BC in Pittsburgh for the Panthers came on Jan. 5, 2017.

SCOUTING THE EAGLES

The Boston College Eagles enter Thursday's game with a 14-14 overall record and a 4-11 ACC mark. The Eagles have lost four straight in ACC play including a 73-55 loss at #14 North Carolina Sunday.
The Eagles are being led offensively by Dontavia Waggoner who is averaging 13.1 points, 7.5 rebounds and 3.0 steals while shooting 40.7% from the floor. Waggoner has missed the past six games due to injury and the Eagles own a 1-5 record in those games.
Sophomore Maria Gakdeng is enjoying a strong season as she is averaging 10.9 points, 6.4 rebounds and 1.7 blocks while shooting 56.4% from the floor. Freshman Taina Mair is having a great season, averaging 10.8 points, 6.6 assists and 4.4 rebounds. Her 6.6 apg ranks 2nd in the ACC and 9th in the ACC. She also leads all freshman in the NCAA with 186 helpers on the year.

BENCH MAKING MAJOR CONTRIBUTIONS

The Pitt bench has made a big impact so far this season as the Panthers' depth has really shined.
In the road win over Georgia Tech Sunday, the Panthers scored a program record 58 bench points from five different players. Pitt had four bench players score in double figures for the first time in program history.
The 58 bench points are the 6th most scored in a game so far this season in the NCAA. They are the second most bench points scored against a Power 5 team and the most scored in a road win by a team in the NCAA so far this season.
Over the past three games, the Pitt bench has scored 131 points which marks the most over a three-game span in program history.
Pitt has now scored 30+ bench points in three straight games for the first time in program history.
The Panthers bench is averaging 25.0 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 nine games with 30+ bench points after posting only four such games all last season. The nine games with 30+ points for their bench are the most such games in a single season in program history.

BENCH POINTS IN A SINGLE GAME (NCAA)
Team            Opponent (Result)           Points
GCU              Columbia College (W)           69
Boise St.       Multnomah (W)                    67
WKU             at Ball State (L)                      66
So. Carolina Hampton (W)                        65
Iowa             Rutgers (W)                           61
Pitt               at Georgia Tech (W)             58

SCORING POINTS IN BUNCHES

Pitt has proved over Coach White's tenure that when the offense is clicking they can win a lot of games.
Last time out, Pitt netted 85 points in a road win over Georgia Tech. It marked the most points scored in a conference road game since Jan. 12, 2008 when they scored 86 in a win at Cincinnati.
The 85 points scored also marked the most in an ACC road game for Pitt since joining the ACC in 2013-14.
The Panthers had three players (Strickland, Johnson, Harris) score 15+ points in the win over GT, marking the first time Pitt had three players score at least 15 points since March 2, 2016 against North Carolina in the ACC Tournament (Wise, Bugg, Carey).
Pitt improved to 3-0 on the season and 10-0 since White took over in 2018-19 when they score at least 80 points in a game.
When Pitt scores at least 70 points, they own a 21-9 record since White took over the program in 2018-19.

NEXT UP

Pitt returns home Sunday afternoon as they welcome #10 Notre Dame to the Petersen Events Center for a 2:00 pm tip on ACC Network Extra.
Sunday will be a busy day at the Pete as it will be Pitt's Hail to Her game which will honor the 50^th Anniversary of Title IX. Sunday will also be Alumni Day and Chancellor's Day at the Pete.
At halftime Sunday, the Pitt women's basketball team will retire Jennifer Bruce's #12 jersey. Bruce's jersey will be the second Pitt women's basketball jersey to be retired, joining Lorri Johnson's #24 jersey.