Pitt Heads To Chapel Hill Thursday For Clash With North Carolina

Thursday, February 15

Chapel Hill, NC

6 PM

Pitt

North Carolina

Pitt Heads To Chapel Hill Thursday For Clash With North Carolina

2/14/2024 12:52:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Women's Basketball

vs Pitt-Johnstown

Oct 26, 2025 at 1 PM

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Hours

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GAME 26

Pitt at North Carolina

Feb. 15, 2024 / 6:00 PM / Chapel Hill, NC (Carmichael Arena) / ACC Network Extra

GAME NOTES

SCHEDULE

PITTSBURGH – The Pitt women’s basketball team (7-18, 1-11 ACC) hits the road Thursday for their first of two straight away from home as they travel down to Chapel Hill to battle the North Carolina Tar Heels at Carmichael Arena. Thursday’s game will tip at 6:00 pm and air on ACC Network Extra.

HOW TO FOLLOW

Thursday’s game will air on ACC Network Extra and it can be streamed by clicking HERE.
Live stats for Thursday’s game can be found by clicking HERE.
You can also listen to the game on pittsburghpanthers.com as the voice of Pitt women's basketball, Josh Rowntree, will have the call from the Petersen Events Center starting at 5:45 pm. To listen, click HERE.

THE OPENING TIP

The Panthers open a two-game road swing Thursday night as they take on the North Carolina Tar Heels at Carmichael Arena. Thursday’s game will tip at 6pm and air live on ACC Network Extra.
Senior Liatu King has been the best player on the floor for Pitt all year long. Last time out against #3 NC State, she notched her 15th game this season with 10+ rebounds as she finished with nine points and 12 rebounds in the loss. She is the only player in the NCAA this season to average at least 18.8 points, 10.6 rebounds, 1.8 steals and 1.6 blocks per game.
King ranks inside the top-5 in the ACC in multiple categories including fifth in scoring (18.8 ppg), second in rebounding (10.6 rpg), second in offensive rebounds (3.5 orpg), third in blocks (1.7 bpg), third in field goal percentage (54.7%), third in minutes played (35.4 mpg) and second in double-doubles (14).
Forward Jala Jordan has been great for Pitt of late as she netted her eight game in her last nine in double figures against #3 NC State. Jordan finished with 10 points, nine rebounds and two blocks in the loss to the Wolfpack. Over her last nine games she is averaging 28.5 minutes, 14.0 points and 7.9 rebounds while shooting 40.6% from the floor and 94.3% (33-for-35) from the free throw line.

KING OF THE COURT

Senior Liatu King entered ACC play with her expectations at an all-time high as the Pitt coaching staff has instilled a confidence in her as a go-to option this season.
She is enjoying a career year as she is averaging a team-high 18.8 points, 10.6 rebounds, 1.8 steals and 1.6 blocks while shooting 54.7% from the floor.
King currently ranks inside the top-5 in the ACC in multiple categories including scoring (fifth), rebounding (second), offensive rebounds per game (second), blocks (third), field goal percentage (third), double-doubles (second) and minutes per game (third). She is the only player in any Power 5 conference to rank inside the top-5 in each of those categories.
She is also the only player in the nation currently averaging at least 18.8 points, 10.6 rebounds, 1.8 steals and 1.6 blocks per game on the year.
There have only been four players (Kiersten Bell, Aneesah Morrow, Natasha Mack and Madison Nelson) in the NCAA over the past 15 seasons to post season season averages of at least 18.8 points, 10.6 rebounds, 1.8 steals and 1.6 blocks. She is also the only player to shoot at least 54% from the floor with those numbers.
King is the only player in the nation with at least 41 assists, 44 steals and 41 blocks so far this season.
So far in ACC play, King is averaging 17.8 points, 11.3 rebounds, 1.6 blocks and 1.3 steals while shooting 56.1% from the floor. She ranks eighth in scoring, second in rebounding, second in field goal percentage and seventh in blocks in ACC games.
Last time out against #3 NC State, she appeared in her 100th career game and finished with nine points and 12 rebounds in the loss. It marked her 15th game this season with double digit rebounds and just her second not scoring in double figures.
Her 10 games with 20+ points are the most in a season by a Pitt player since Brianna Kiesel had 16 games of 20+ during the 2014-15 season.
On Feb. 4 King became the 21st member of Pitt’s 1,000 career point club. She is 41 points shy of 20th place on Pitt’s all-time scoring list.

PITT’S ALL-TIME SCORING LIST
No. Name                                                                                    Points
17    Jania Sims (2006-11)                                                            1,097
18    Yacine Diop (2014-18)                                                          1,093
19    Dayshanette Harris (2019-23)                                              1,085
20    Jennifer Shingler (1986-90)                                                  1,081
21    Liatu King (2020-Pres.)                                                        1,040

Overall this season, she has scored 10+ points in 23 of 25 games while posting 15+ points a career-high 19 times.
She has now grabbed at least 14 rebounds in an ACC-leading nine games this season for the Panthers. No other ACC player has more than five such games.
In the win at Virginia earlier this year, King netted 15 points, 16 rebounds, five steals and four assists. She is the only player in the NCAA this season and one of two players in the ACC over the past 15 seasons (Dearica Hamby - Wake, 2013) to post a game with at least 15 points, 16 rebounds, five steals and four assists.
King ranks second in the NCAA this season with five games with at least 25 points and 10 rebounds (Elizabeth Kitley, VT - 6).
She had a career game against #16 Notre Dame as sge exploded for a career-high 34 points, 13 rebounds, three blocks and two assists while going 13-for-18 from the floor and 8-for-11 from the free throw line. She is one of just three players in the NCAA this season to post a game with at least 34 points and 13 rebounds (Caitlin Clark - Iowa, Aneesah Morrow - LSU) while being the only player in the country to also add three blocks in the same game.
The 34 points for King are the second most by a Pitt player at the Petersen Events Center trailing only Asia Logan’s 36 against William & Mary on Nov. 11, 2012.
King is the first opponent to score at least 34 points and 13 rebounds in a game against Notre Dame in the past 15 seasons.
In the win over NKU earlier this year, King went off for 30 points and nine rebounds while going 14-for-18 from the floor. She is the first ACC player in the past two seasons to score 30+ points, grab nine rebounds, make 14 field goals and shoot 77% from the floor in a single game.
King currently ranks 45th in the NCAA with 41 blocked shots on the season. She is the only player in the NCAA 6 foot tall or shorter with at least 41 blocked shots on the year.
She now has 13 games with multiple steals, 14 games with multiple assists and 12 games with multiple blocks on the year.
She has scored in double figures 47 times in her career while recording multiple blocks 30 times.
A ferocious rebounder, King has grabbed at least five rebounds in 70 of her 100 career games. She has led the Panthers in rebounding 50 times while snagging 10+ boards 30 times in her career.

Liatu King is the only player in the nation averaging at least 18.8 points, 10.6 rebounds, 1.8 steals and 1.6 blocks this season

MORE NOTES

SERIES HISTORY – NORTH CAROLINA

This meeting marks the 14th of all-time between the two programs with North Carolina holding the slim 7-6 edge in the series.
The Tar Heels have won four straight in the all-time series including a 72-57 victory over the Panthers last season at the Pete.
Pitt is 1-4 all-time in games played in Chapel Hill with their lone road victory against UNC coming on Feb. 18, 2016 by the score of 76-60.
The last win in the series overall for Pitt came on Feb. 14, 2019 as they earned the 91-78 victory at the Pete.

SCOUTING THE TAR HEELS

North Carolina enters Thursday’s game with a 15-9 overall record and a 7-5 ACC mark after falling at Duke Sunday in overtime, 68-60. The Tar Heels have lost four straight games overall.
The Tar Heels are being led offensively by Deja Kelly who is averaging 17.0 points, 3.6 rebounds and 3.1 assists while ranking second on the squad with 32 steals.
Alyssa Ustby does a little bit of everything for UNC as she is averaging 12.1 points, 9.8 rebounds, 3.6 assists, a team-high 1.8 steals and a team-high 1.4 blocks while shooting 46.7% from the floor. She has also racked up 12 double-doubles which ranks third in the ACC this season.
Lexi Donarski has been solid for the Tar Heels as she is averaging 10.3 points and 2.9 rebounds while connecting on a team-high 53 triples.
As a team, the Tar Heels are averaging 69.4 points per game while shooting 41.6% from the floor and 29.5% from behind the arc. They are averaging 39.7 rebounds per game while ranking fourth in the ACC in turnover margin (+3.6).

LAST TIME OUT – VS. #3 NC STATE

After a strong first quarter, the Panthers were overpowered Sunday afternoon by #3 NC State as they fell 83-47 to the Wolfpack.
Pitt had a trio of players score in double figures as Aaryn Battle led the way with 11 points while Jala Jordan added 10 points, nine rebounds and two blocks and Marley Washenitz posted 10 points in the loss.
As a team, Pitt was held to just 29.7% shooting for the game while the Wolfpack shot 44.3% from the floor. Pitt was outrebounded 47-38 while NC State also owned the paint, outscoring Pitt 38-18 down low.

SEEING DOUBLE-DOUBLES

So far this season, Pitt players have combined to record 20 double-doubles. It marks the most in a single season by Pitt players since joining the ACC in 2013-14.
Four different Panthers have secured at least one double-double this season (King, Jordan, Ayodele, Washenitz). It marks the first time Pitt had four different players earn a double-double in a season since 2016-17.
The forward duo of Liatu King and Jala Jordan have each secured double-doubles in two of the last three games. Both players narrowly missed double-doubles last time out against #3 NC State as Jordan needed one rebound and King need one point.
King is leading the way with a career-high 14 double-doubles on the season. She currently ranks second in the ACC and 10th in the NCAA in double-doubles.
The 14 double-doubles are the most in a season by a Pitt player since Chelsea Cole (16) in 2010-11. She has posted the third most double-doubles in a single season by a Pitt player in the past 30 years.
Her 14 double-doubles through the first 25 games of the season are the most by a Pitt player in program history.
For her career, King has now recorded 24 double-doubles (points + rebounds). She ranks third among Pitt players in career double-doubles over the past 30 seasons (Marcedes Walker - 51, Chelsea Cole - 26).
Jordan has posted a career-high three double-doubles on the season after earning just one in her previous four seasons of college basketball.

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