Women's Basketball vs Pitt Feb 4 at 7PM

The Lady Hokies play Pitt today at 7 PM in the in PIttsburgh. The game is a Regional Sports Network game. Pitt is 4-5 and 2-4 in the ACC. They have wins against George Mason, Hofstra and Clemson twice. They have lost to Delaware, VT, FSU, Miami and Syracuse. We beat them easily (88-71) in Cassell on Dec 10. In that game Harris had 22 pts and 9 rebounds. Jayla Everett scored 21 points on 6 of 9 from beyond the arc. Emy Hayford also scored in double digits with 10 points on 4 of 5 FG. Ezeja fouled out and only played 12 minutes. Harris had 4 fouls when the game ended. Four Hokies were in double digits scoring led by Cayla King with 29 points. This was one of the few games Kitley did not get a double double as she only had 9 rebound to go with 15 points.

Pitt has two bigs in Ibokwe and Ezeja; but Ezeja does not seem to be able to stay out of foul trouble. They are led in scoring by Harris and Everett, the only players averaging double digit scoring. Pitt is a young team with only 1 senior and 1 junior playing this year.

Jayla Everett #20, 5'10" Junior Guard transfer from New Mexico. Mountain West Freshman of the year in 2018-19. Started 17 games as a sophomore point guard for New Mexico last year. Shooting 28.2% overall and 35.3% from 3. Has 1.42 turnover to assists ratio.

Dayshanette Harris, #1, 5'7" Sophomore Guard. Started 24 games and was an ACC All-Freshman pick last year. Lead the Panthers in scoring(12.7), assists(2.6) and steals(1.8). Shooting 44.6% and 12.5% from 3 this year. Averaging 14.8 ppg, 3 rpg and 5.5 assists/game in 2020-21. Also 5 turnovers per game.

Gabbie Green #12, 5.7" Senior Guard. Transfer from South Plains College before last season. Started all 31 games in 2019-20. Averaging 5.2 ppg, shooting 27% and 30% from 3.

Rita Igbokwe, #23, 6'4" Sophomore Center. Averaging 6.3 ppg, shooting 50% , has not attempted a three. A big body that plays physical underneath. Averages 5.8 rebounds and 2+ blocks in 22 min. Also averages 3.2 fouls per game, which may explain the limited minutes.

Amber Brown #5, 6'0" Sophomore Forward. ACC Freshman of the week twice as a freshman. Started all 31 games last year. Averaging 7.2 ppg. shooting 48.1% with no attempts from 3. Averages 6.3 rebounds adn 2.5 fouls per game.

The next four players King, Hayford, Strother and Ezeja play about 15 min per game and contribute 3-7 ppg. Strother is the only player in this group likely to even shoot from 3, with 24 attempts in 6 games; but she is only shooting 29% from beyond the arc. Ezeja is the other player in this group that might be a factor; she is the other player over 6'1" on the squad; but she averages 4 fouls in 15 min per game.

Stats in ACC play:


I am always reluctant to say this; but the Hokies should have the advantage in this one. Ibokwe and Ezeja should have foul problems trying to guard Kitley. If Sheppard has a good game, Pitt does not have the players to stop both her and Kitley. And if Amoore and/or King can contribute from outside, we should handle Pitt easily. However, we do seem to find a way to play down to our competition. You can't take any team in the ACC for granted. Pitt can beat us if we get lazy or careless.

Go Hokies!

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