Panthers To Battle Ohio and Ole Miss In Daytona Beach Invitational

DAYTONA BEACH, Fl. – The Pitt women's basketball team (2-3, 0-0 ACC) will hit the road for the first time since their season opener as they head down to Daytona Beach to compete in the Daytona Beach Invitational. The Panthers will open up the Thanksgiving Tournament against Ohio on Friday at 3:30 pm before wrapping up action on Saturday evening at 5:45 pm against Ole Miss inside the Ocean Center in the Sunshine State.

This marks the second straight season the Panthers have competed in a Thanksgiving Tournament after going 2-1 a season ago at the Music City Classic in Nashville, downing Arkansas and Tennessee State.

HOW TO FOLLOW

Friday's game against Ohio will be streamed online by clicking HERE.
Saturday's game against Ole Miss will be streamed online by clicking HERE.
Live stats for both games 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.

THE SERIES

This meeting marks the ninth all-time between the two programs with the Panthers owning the 8-0 record against the Bobcats in the series.
The two teams last meet in 2007 with the Panthers downing Ohio, 69-55.

A WIN WOULD...

Give Pitt their first neutral site game victory of the season.
Be the ninth straight against the Ohio Bobcats.
Give the Panthers 22 wins against Mid-American Conference foes all-time.

STORYLINES

The 2019-20 version of the Pitt Panthers features five returning players and seven newcomers. The newcomers are comprised of two transfers and five freshmen student-athletes.
Graduate student Aysia Bugg will return to the Panthers lineup this season for her sixth season after sustaining blood clots last season that forced her to miss the final 26 games. Bugg is enjoying a strong start to the season as she ranks seventh in the ACC averaging 16.8 ppg.

THE OPENING TIP

The new-look Panthers enter the Daytona Beach Invitational with a 2-3 record after falling to Duquesne last time out in the City Game.
The newcomers for the Panthers have proved to be a key to the success of the team so far this season. The five newcomers for Pitt have accounted for 56% of the teams scoring so far this season. Freshman point guard Dayshanette Harris is averaging 10.4 points and a team-high 2.8 assists while fellow freshman Amber Brown is averaging 10.0 points and a team-best 8.4 rebounds.

LAST TIME OUT

The Panthers couldn't get things going in the second half as they fell to crosstown rival Duquesne in the City Game at the Pete, 81-62, on Saturday.
Freshman point guard Dayshanette Harris had her coming out party in the defeat as she netted a career-high 22 points, five rebounds and two steals while going 9-for-17 from the floor.
Fellow freshman Amber Brown had a strong game as she netted 14 points and five rebounds while Gabbie Green finished off her game with seven points and a career-high 10 boards.
As a team, Pitt turned the ball over 19 times and the Dukes were able to turn those chances into 24 points. The Panthers were also limited to a season-low seven assists while the Duquesne bench outscored Pitt's 31-4 for the game.

BUGGIN' OUT

After receiving a waiver for her sixth season of eligibility in the summer, graduate student Aysia Bugg has been the best player on the court for the Panthers across the first five games.
Last time out, Bugg struggled from the floor and it resulted in a loss for Pitt as she netted just seven points on 3-for-13 shooting. The seven-point effort snapped a streak of four straight games of 10+ points to start the season.
For the season, Bugg leads the team averaging 35.8 minutes, 16.8 points, 1.8 assists and 1.8 rebounds while connecting on a team-high 15 three pointers and shooting 38.5% from deep. She ranks seventh in the ACC in scoring (16.8 ppg), first in three-pointers (15), fourth in minutes played (35.8 mpg) and seventh in three-point shooting % (.385).
Bugg opened the season with four straight games with 17+ points scored, marking the first time in her career she has recorded four straight games of 17+ points scored.
The team captain enters this season as the lone player in the ACC to have 700+ points, 300+ assists and 200+ rebounds in her career.
Bugg missed all of the 2017-18 campaign due to a torn ACL and after a strong start to her 2018-19 campaign, she missed the final 26 games after suffering from blood clots.Prior to her blood clot diagnosis, Bugg was averaging a team-high 14.0 points, 3.4 assists and 2.4 rebounds across 29.6 minutes/game.
Bugg is just 203 points shy 1,000 for her career as she would become the 20th member of the Panthers 1,000 point club. She is also just 23 assists away from 10th place on the Panthers all-time assists charts.

WHAT CAN BROWN DO FOR YOU

Freshman forward Amber Brown will be asked to play big minutes down low for the Panthers this season and she seems ready for the challenge.
Last time out, Brown continued to show growth on the offensive end of the court as she netted a career-high 14 points and five rebounds across 30 minutes.
On the year, Brown is averaging 10.0 points and a team-high 8.4 rebounds while connecting on 47.4% of her field goal attempts. Her 8.4 rebounds ranks 12th in the ACC overall and second amongst ACC freshman.
Brown has grabbed at least five rebounds in her of her first five games of her career.
The freshman has played 30+ minutes in four straight games for the Panthers.
Earlier this season, Brown became the first Panther since Stasha Carey in 2015-16 to notch three straight games with 10+ rebounds. She is also the first freshman to do so since Carey did it in the 2014-15 season.
Brown has two double-doubles so far this season, the most in a season by a Pitt freshman since Brenna Wise recorded five in 2015-16.

ALL DAY LONG

Playing the point guard position as a freshman is one of the most difficult things to do but to come in and start at point guard is almost unheard of.
Freshman Dayshanette Harris has handled the reins of the Pitt offense since her first day on campus and she is showing flashes of being a star for the Panthers.
Last time out, Harris had the best scoring game of her career as she netted a career-high 22 points, five rebounds and two steals across 30 minutes of action. Harris went 9-for- 17 from the floor and 4-for-6 from the charity stripe against the Dukes.
On the year, Harris is averaging 27.0 minutes, 10.4 points, 2.6 assists, 2.6 rebounds and 1.6 steals.
Harris is the first Pitt freshman since Alayna Gribble in the 2016-17 season to score 20+ points in a game.

JUDKINS HAS CAREER DAY ON GLASS

Junior center Cara Judkins will enter the season as the lone post player with any experience at the collegiate level for the Panthers and she is ready to lead by example.
After a slow start to the season, Judkins has picked up her play down low for Pitt over the past few games as last time out she netted eight points, a career-high 13 rebounds and a block across 30 minutes of work while going 3-for-5 from the floor.
The 13 rebound game tied a career-high for rebounds as she also grabbed 13 in a win over Cincinnati last year.
The junior has now recorded four games with double digit rebounds in her career.
On the season, the junior is averaging 24.6 minutes, 6.0 points and 7.2 rebounds while shooting 64.7% from the floor.
Heading into this season, Judkins ranks first in the ACC amongst returning players in rebounding improvement from 2017-18 to 2018-19 (+4.2) and second in scoring improvement (+6.1 PPG) from 2017-18 to 2018-19.

NEWCOMERS MAKING A DIFFERENCE

Entering the 2019-20 campaign, the Panthers knew they were going to have to rely heavily on a handful of newcomers to make an impact and they have done a nice job so far this season.
The five newcomers for the Panthers are averaging a combined 36.4 points/game which accounts for 55.8% of the teams scoring so far this season.
Entering this season, Pitt had to replace 70.4% of their scoring from last season when they averaged 57.5 points/game.

NEXT UP

Pitt will head to Happy Valley to take on the Penn State Nittany Lions on Thursday, Dec. 5 at 7:00 pm in the Big Ten/ACC Challenge.
Pitt will then return home for two straight as they welcome Stony Brook (Dec. 8) and Miami (OH) (Dec. 17) to the Pete.

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