Pitt Returns Home Thursday Night As Wake Forest Comes To Town

Thursday, February 22

Pittsburgh, PA

7 PM

Pitt

Wake Forest

Tickets

Photo by: Dawson Powers

Pitt Returns Home Thursday Night As Wake Forest Comes To Town

2/21/2024 3:35:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Women's Basketball

vs Pitt-Johnstown

Oct 26, 2025 at 1 PM

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GAME 28

Pitt vs. Wake Forest

Feb. 22, 2024 / 7:00 PM / Pittsburgh, PA (Petersen Events Center) / ACC Network Extra

GAME NOTES

SCHEDULE

PITTSBURGH – The Pitt women’s basketball team (8-19, 2-12 ACC) sets their sights on two straight ACC wins Thursday night as they welcome the Wake Forest Demon Deacons (4-22, 0-14 ACC) to the Petersen Events Center for a 7:00 pm tip. Thursday’s game will 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 Pete starting at 6:45 pm. To listen, click HERE.

THE OPENING TIP

Pitt returns home Thursday night looking for their second straight victory as they welcome the Wake Forest Demon Deacons to the Petersen Events Center for a 7:00 pm tip on ACC Network Extra.
Senior Liatu King has been the best player on the floor for Pitt all year long. Last time out in the win at Clemson, she led the team in scoring for the 18th time this season as she netted 17 points, seven rebounds, three steals and two assists in 34 minutes of work. She is the only player in the NCAA this season to average at least 18.6 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 (18.6 ppg), second in rebounding (10.6 rpg), third in offensive rebounds (3.5 orpg), third in blocks (1.6 bpg), fourth in field goal percentage (53.9%), second in minutes played (35.4 mpg) and second in double-doubles (15).
Junior sharpshooter Bella Perkins has given the Panthers a big boost over the last two games as she has scored in double figures in two straight for the first time this season. In the win over Clemson, Perkins finished with 16 points and three rebounds while draining four triples off the bench. In her last two games, she is averaging 28.7 minutes, 16.0 points and 3.0 rebounds while shooting 53.3% (8-for-15) from three-point range.

PERKINS COMING ALIVE

Junior guard Bella Perkins has shown flashes of becoming a big time player for the Panthers and they will rely on that down the stretch of the regular season.
So far this season, Perkins is averaging 7.1 points and 1.7 rebounds while connecting on a team-high 40 three-pointers.
Last time out in the road win over Clemson, Perkins came off the bench and netted 16 points and three rebounds while draining four three-pointers in 31 minutes of work. Her timely buckets in the fourth quarter helped lead Pitt to victory.
Perkins now has a career-high nine games scoring in double figures this season including in each of her last two games (UNC, Clemson).
Over her last two games, Perkins is averaging 16.0 points and 3.0 rebounds while connecting on 53.3% of her three-point attempts (8-for-15). She has came off the bench in both games and drained four triples in each contest to help open the floor for the Pitt post players.
She has connected on multiple three-pointers in a team-high 12 games this season including draining a season-best four triples in three games (Lehigh, UNC, Clemson).
Earlier this season in the win over Lehigh, Perkins went off for a career-high 22 points, five assists, three steals and three rebounds while going 7-for-15 from the floor and 4-for-7 from behind the arc.
She has a career-high eight games with multiple assists and three games with multiple steals on the year.

Junior Bella Perkins has averaged 16.0 points and 3.0 rebounds while shooting 53.3% from behind the arc in her last two games

MORE NOTES

SERIES HISTORY – WAKE FOREST

This meeting marks the 14th of all-time between the two programs with Wake Forest holding the 8-5 lead in the series.
The Demon Deacons won the last meeting in the series last season in Winston-Salem by the score of 66-51.
The Panthers have won three of the last five overall in the series while winning two straight at the Pete.
Pitt is 2-3 all-time against Wake Forest in games played in Pittsburgh but claimed the 65-57 victory in the last game at the Pete on Jan. 16, 2022.

SCOUTING THE DEMON DEACONS

Wake Forest enters Thursday’s game with a 4-22 overall record and a 0-14 ACC mark after falling at home to North Carolina on Sunday, 58-50. The Demon Deacons have lost 14 straight games overall.
Wake Forest is being led offensively by Elise Williams who is averaging 11.5 points, 4.7 rebounds, 3.9 assists and 1.8 steals while connecting on a team-best 34 three-pointers on the year. Kaia Harrison is averaging 9.3 points and 3.3 rebounds while connecting on a team-high 79 free throws so far this season.
Malaya Cowles is enjoying a nice season as she is averaging 9.0 points and 4.0 rebounds while shooting 55.3% from the floor and recorded a team-high 16 blocks. Alexandria Scruggs has started all 26 games and is averaging 7.3 points and a team-high 4.8 rebounds so far this season.
As a team, Wake Forest is averaging 59.1 points per game while allowing 68.4 points against per contest. They are shooting 38.2% from the floor while allowing opponents to shoot an ACC worst 44.6% against. They are averaging 30.5 rebounds per game while allowing an average of 36.3 rebounds against per game.

LAST TIME OUT – AT CLEMSON

The Panthers put in a complete effort Sunday afternoon as they secured their second ACC road win of the season, defeating Clemson 72-57.
After a slow start, the Panthers completely dominated the final three quarter as they outscored the Tigers by 21 across the final 30 minutes.
Liatu King led the Panthers with 17 points, seven rebounds, three steals and two assists while Bella Perkins came off the bench and netted 16 points on four three-pointers.
For the game, Pitt shot 47.2% from the floor while holding the Tigers to 39.3% shooting. Pitt forced 21 Clemson turnovers and they turned those chances into 30 points while also owning the 24-2 lead in bench scoring in the win.

TAKING CHARGE(s)

One of the points of emphasis for first-year head coach Tory Verdi this season is for his defense to take charges. He believes taking a charge can shift momentum and change the outcome of a game.
In game one of the Verdi Era, Pitt took taking charges to heart as they drew four including one by Marley Washenitz in the final minute to seal the win.
So far this season, Pitt has drawn a total of 45 charges through 27 games. Washenitz has eight games with multiple charges drawn so far this season for Pitt including a season-high three in three games (Ball State, Duke, UNC).

CHARGES DRAWN

Player                             Charges
Marley Washenitz                  31
Liatu King                                  6
Rapuluchi Ayodele                    2
Jala Jordan                                2
Bella Perkins                             2
Aislin Malcolm                          1
Lauren Rust     1

NEXT UP

Pitt returns to the road Sunday, Feb. 25 as they head to Syracuse to take on the #17 Orange inside the Carrier Dome. Sunday’s game will tip at 2:00 pm and air live on ACC Network Extra.