Friday, November 12
Pittsburgh, Pa.
6:00 PM
Pitt
2-0,0-0ACC
72
vs
63
Lafayette
0-1,0-0Patriot
1
2
3
4
F
Lafayette
11
11
25
16
63
Pittsburgh
17
18
17
20
72
Rita Igbokwe's Big Night Powers Pitt Past Lafayette, 72-63
11/12/2021 10:32:00 PM | Women's Basketball
PITTSBURGH – Behind a career night by junior center Rita Igbokwe, the Pitt women's basketball team (2-0, 0-0 ACC) improved to 2-0 on the year as they downed the Lafayette Leopards 72-63 in front of the home fans Friday night inside the Petersen Events Center. Igbokwe finished off her night with a career-high 23 points, 13 rebounds and four blocks in the win.
"I'm really excited that we were able to pull off the win tonight," stated head coach Lance White. "A year ago we wouldn't have won this game but to see our kids bounce back and win a close game was great. Obviously we have some things we need to clean up but overall I was really pleased with the way our kids made plays down the stretch on both ends of the floor to give us a chance and win the game."
Igbokwe was a force down the stretch for the Panthers on Friday as she finished off her night with 23 points on 11-of-15 from the floor while snagging 13 boards (four offensive) and blocking four shots. Senior Jayla Everett posted her second straight 20-point night as she finished with 20 points on 9-of-17 from the floor while adding a career-high four blocks, two rebounds, two assists and two steals in the win.
The Panthers came out strong in the opening quarter thanks to Everett as she connected on four jumpers and eight points in the first frame to lead the Pitt offense. After Everett game Pitt the 6-4 edge early on, Taisha Exanor grabbed an offensive board and finished off the layup and Destiny Strother stroked her first triple of the game to make the score 13-6 in favor of the Panthers. After a pair of Lafayette buckets, Everett knocked down back-to-back jumpers to give Pitt the 17-11 lead through one quarter.
Pitt opened the second quarter on a 12-0 run as Igbokwe finished off a layup after a great feed from Liatu King and Maliyah Johnson drained her first jumper of the game to make it 29-11 in favor of the Panthers. After a Lafayette jumper, Everett drained a jumper and Mary Dunn finished off a hook shot to give Pitt their biggest lead of the game, 33-13. The Leopards finished off the half with six straight points to send the game to halftime with Pitt leading 35-22.
Pitt started the third quarter strong as Emy Hayford finished off a layup, Strother knocked down her second triple of the game and Igbokwe made back-to-back layups to give the Panthers the 44-24 lead just over two minutes in. The Leopards were able to battle back in the game over the next five minutes as they went on a 13-0 scoring run to cut the Pitt lead to 44-37. Igbokwe ended the run for Lafayette as she was able to net seven points down the stretch but the Leopards hung around as the game went to the fourth quarter with the Panthers clinging to the 52-47 lead.
Pitt was able to push their lead back to 10, 60-50, early in the fourth quarter as Everett knocked down a three and Igbokwe and Sandrine Clesca converted on back-to-back layups. Lafayette didn't go away as they were able to cut the deficit to just one, 64-63, with 2:03 remaining after a pair of deep triples. After a timeout, Amber Brown grabbed an offensive rebound and made the layup to give Pitt some breathing room. The Panthers defense turned up the pressure down the stretch as they didn't allow a point over the final two minutes to secure the nine-point win, 72-63.
Brown finished off her night with five points, a season-high 10 rebounds and a career-high five assists across 27 minutes of action while Strother netted six points and two boards. Dunn chipped in with six points and two boards off the bench while Hayford finished her strong all-around night with four points, a career-high six assists and three rebounds. Johnson played a career-high 16 minutes and posted four points and two rebounds in the win.
As a team, Pitt shot 45.5% from the floor while they held the Leopards to just 37.1% shooting. Pitt held the 48-36 edge in rebounds including the 17-13 lead in offensive boards. Pitt dominated the paint, outscoring Lafayette 46-24 in the win.
Lafayette was led by Claire Gallagher who netted 19 points and five rebounds while going 5-for-6 from behind the arc. Makayla Andrews chipped in with 17 points while Abby Antognoli had 13 in the loss.
NEXT UP
Team
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"I'm really excited that we were able to pull off the win tonight," stated head coach Lance White. "A year ago we wouldn't have won this game but to see our kids bounce back and win a close game was great. Obviously we have some things we need to clean up but overall I was really pleased with the way our kids made plays down the stretch on both ends of the floor to give us a chance and win the game."
Igbokwe was a force down the stretch for the Panthers on Friday as she finished off her night with 23 points on 11-of-15 from the floor while snagging 13 boards (four offensive) and blocking four shots. Senior Jayla Everett posted her second straight 20-point night as she finished with 20 points on 9-of-17 from the floor while adding a career-high four blocks, two rebounds, two assists and two steals in the win.
The Panthers came out strong in the opening quarter thanks to Everett as she connected on four jumpers and eight points in the first frame to lead the Pitt offense. After Everett game Pitt the 6-4 edge early on, Taisha Exanor grabbed an offensive board and finished off the layup and Destiny Strother stroked her first triple of the game to make the score 13-6 in favor of the Panthers. After a pair of Lafayette buckets, Everett knocked down back-to-back jumpers to give Pitt the 17-11 lead through one quarter.
Pitt opened the second quarter on a 12-0 run as Igbokwe finished off a layup after a great feed from Liatu King and Maliyah Johnson drained her first jumper of the game to make it 29-11 in favor of the Panthers. After a Lafayette jumper, Everett drained a jumper and Mary Dunn finished off a hook shot to give Pitt their biggest lead of the game, 33-13. The Leopards finished off the half with six straight points to send the game to halftime with Pitt leading 35-22.
Pitt started the third quarter strong as Emy Hayford finished off a layup, Strother knocked down her second triple of the game and Igbokwe made back-to-back layups to give the Panthers the 44-24 lead just over two minutes in. The Leopards were able to battle back in the game over the next five minutes as they went on a 13-0 scoring run to cut the Pitt lead to 44-37. Igbokwe ended the run for Lafayette as she was able to net seven points down the stretch but the Leopards hung around as the game went to the fourth quarter with the Panthers clinging to the 52-47 lead.
Pitt was able to push their lead back to 10, 60-50, early in the fourth quarter as Everett knocked down a three and Igbokwe and Sandrine Clesca converted on back-to-back layups. Lafayette didn't go away as they were able to cut the deficit to just one, 64-63, with 2:03 remaining after a pair of deep triples. After a timeout, Amber Brown grabbed an offensive rebound and made the layup to give Pitt some breathing room. The Panthers defense turned up the pressure down the stretch as they didn't allow a point over the final two minutes to secure the nine-point win, 72-63.
Brown finished off her night with five points, a season-high 10 rebounds and a career-high five assists across 27 minutes of action while Strother netted six points and two boards. Dunn chipped in with six points and two boards off the bench while Hayford finished her strong all-around night with four points, a career-high six assists and three rebounds. Johnson played a career-high 16 minutes and posted four points and two rebounds in the win.
As a team, Pitt shot 45.5% from the floor while they held the Leopards to just 37.1% shooting. Pitt held the 48-36 edge in rebounds including the 17-13 lead in offensive boards. Pitt dominated the paint, outscoring Lafayette 46-24 in the win.
Lafayette was led by Claire Gallagher who netted 19 points and five rebounds while going 5-for-6 from behind the arc. Makayla Andrews chipped in with 17 points while Abby Antognoli had 13 in the loss.
NEXT UP
- Pitt returns home Wednesday, Nov. 17 as they welcome LIU to the Petersen Events Center for a 6:00 pm tip. Wednesday's game will air on ACC Network Extra.
Team
- With the win, Pitt improves to 2-2 all-time against Lafayette and 18-3 all-time against members of the Patriot League.
- Pitt improves to 2-0 for the second straight season. The last time Pitt was 3-0 was the 2016-17 campaign.
- The Panthers had a season-high 19 assists on 30 made baskets as six different players notched at least one assist in the win.
- With 48 rebounds on Friday, Pitt has now grabbed 48 or more rebounds in the first two games of the season for the first time since joining the ACC in 2013-14.
- Igbokwe finished off her impressive night with a career-high 23 points, 13 rebounds, four blocks and a steal across 26 minutes of action.
- The junior went an efficient 11-of-15 from the floor while also posting a career-best +/- rating of +28 in the win.
- The double-double marked the third of her career while the 23 points marked her first career 20+ point collegiate game.
- She has now scored in double figures six times in her career while grabbing 10+ rebounds nine times.
- With four blocks tonight, she now has 24 games with two or more blocks and she has 94 for her Pitt career.
- Everett finished off her night with 20 points, a career-high four blocks, two rebounds, two assists and two steals across 30 minutes of action.
- She went 9-of-17 from the floor and just 1-of-5 from behind the arc.
- The 20-point game marked her second straight to start the season and fourth straight overall dating back to last season.
- She now has 16 career 20+ point games including nine as a Panther.
- Her four blocked shots were a career-high.
- She played 30+ minutes for the 42nd time in her college career.
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Team Stats
Laf
Pitt
FG%
.371
.455
3FG%
.409
.200
FT%
.667
.529
RB
36
48
TO
15
18
STL
6
4
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
23
FGM
11
3FGM
0
FTM
1
Pts
20
FGM
9
3FGM
1
FTM
1
Pts
6
FGM
2
3FGM
2
FTM
0
Players Mentioned
F
/ Women's Basketball
G
/ Women's Basketball
G
/ Women's Basketball
G
/ Women's BasketballC
/ Women's Basketball
G/F
/ Women's Basketball
G/F
/ Women's BasketballG
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