Pitt Women's Basketball G Enters Transfer Portal

The Pitt Panthers lost a women's basketball player to the portal.
Louisville Cardinals guard Eylia Love (24) reaches for the loose ball against Pittsburgh Panthers guard Aislin Malcolm (20) during their game on Sunday, Jan. 28, 2024 at KFC YUM Center.
Louisville Cardinals guard Eylia Love (24) reaches for the loose ball against Pittsburgh Panthers guard Aislin Malcolm (20) during their game on Sunday, Jan. 28, 2024 at KFC YUM Center. / Clare Grant/Courier Journal / USA TODAY NETWORK
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PITTSBURGH -- The Pitt Panthers had one of their women's basketball players leave the program, thinning the team depth even further.

Pitt announced that junior guard Aislin Malcolm departed the team and entered the transfer portal, ending her stay with the program after three seasons.

Malcolm hails from nearby Carnegie, Pa. and played for Chartiers Valley High School, where she was a four-year starter.

She led her team to an 110-7 record over her four years and a 64-game winning streak from her freshman season to her junior season, which resulted in three WPIAL Class 5A Titles and a PIAA Class 5A Title in 2019 as a freshman.

Malcolm finished her time at Chartiers Valley as the all-time leader with 1,770 points scored and with 280 3-pointers, which ranks third most in WPIAL history.

ESPN HoopGurlz ranked Malcolm as a four-star guard in the Class of 2022 and the No. 98 player in the country.

Malcolm committed to Pitt and played in 23 games, all coming off the bench. She averaged 9.7 minutes and 3.1 points per game, while shooting 34.8% from the field and 41.2% from 3-point range.

She stayed with the Panthers for her sophomore season, even with the firing of head coach Lance White who recruited her.

New head coach Tory Verdi placed Malcolm in a starting role for 31 of the 32 games she played in the 2023-24 season.

She had career-highs of 33.6 minutes, 9.3 points and 2.2 assists per game, while also grabbing 1.6 rebounds per contest. She also shot 36.9% from the field, 31.6% from deep and 74.4% from the foul line.

Malcolm lost her starting spot this season, with just three starts in the 21 games she played in. Verdi opted to go with guards in senior Brooklyn Miles, who transferred in from Kentucky, fellow junior Marley Washenitz and redshirt sophomore Mikayla Johnson, who transferred in from Colorado.

She averaged 18.3 minutes, 4.6 points and 2.1 rebounds per game, while shooting 35.8% from the field, 38.5% from 3-point range and a perfect 8-for-8 from the foul line.

Malcolm is one of two Panthers that left the team before the end of this season, as Verdi dismissed senior guard Bella Perkins on Dec. 4.

Pitt has also lost three players to season-ending injuries, as freshman forward Kiara Williams underwent successufl surgery on a lower-leg injury back in early July.

They lost two players in the same game, an 82-54 blowout road loss to rival West Virginia in the Backyard Brawl on Nov. 12. Junior guard Amiya Perkins suffered a serious knee injury earlier in the game and then sophomore forward Lauren Rust chose to medically redshirt after dealing with a leg injury.

Pitt has three other guards, along with Washenitz, Miles and Johnson, which includes junior Raeven Boswell, sophomore Aaryn Battle and freshman Audrey Biggs.

The Panthers are currently 9-12 overall and 1-7 in the ACC, tied for least wins in the conference along with Wake Forest.

Pitt heads out on the road this weekend, facing Stanford on Jan. 30 at 10:00 p.m. EST and then Cal on Feb. 2 at 5:00 p.m. EST.

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Dominic Campbell
DOMINIC CAMPBELL

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