Pitt Women's Basketball Dominates UPJ in Exhibition

Pitt Panthers women's basketball dominated Pitt-Johnstown in an exhibition.

Dominic Campbell | Oct 30, 2024

Pitt Women's Basketball Guard Amiya Jenkins / Courtesy of Pitt Athletics

PITTSBURGH -- Pitt Panthers women's basketball dominated Division II opponent Pitt-Johnstown at the Petersen Events Center, in a 106-37 exhibition victory.

Pitt makes it back-to-back seasons with an exhibition win, as they defeated Point Park 117-49 in 2023. This was also the first matchup between the main campus and the branch campus since 2019, which Pitt won 76-62.

The Panthers started out the game on a 13-0 run and held a 24-7 lead at the end of the first quarter. They scored 12 points off of nine turnovers from the Mountain Cats.

Pitt extended their lead to 51-17 by halftime, ending the second quarter with a 21-2 run, as they scord 10 points off of 10 turnovers.

The Panthers would continue to build their lead to 78-29 at the end of the third quarter and then ended it off with a 106-37 victory. They forced 17 turnovers and scored 31 points off of them in the second half.

Pitt forced UPJ into 36 turnovers and scored 53 points off of them, half of their point total in the victory. They also held their opponent to 13-of-48 shooting from the field, 27.1%, and 4-for-22 from 3-point range, 18.2%.

The Panthers shot 50% from the field, 75.9% from the foul line and also made 10 3-pointers, which is more than they made at any point last season.

Kentucky transfer guard duo of junior Amiya Jenkins and senior Brooklyn Miles both had great games for Pitt in the win.

Jenkins led the Panthers with 26 points, shooting 8-for-15 from the field, 8-for-11 from the foul line and making two 3-pointers. Miles finished first on the team with eight assists, working the point guard role, while also scoring nine points and making two steals.

Panthers head coach Tory Verdi praised the two guards for bolstering the backcourt this season and that they'll provide strengths on both ends of the court.

"Both Jenkins and Brooklyn, I mean, Brooklyn's our catalyst man," Verdi said. "She makes us go and you look at what she does as far as being an out ball defender and she had makes us go. Both those guys are fast and we're able to get out and run and get one-legged layups. I just love their length and then their speed and that we're able to do things defensively that we weren't able to do last year."

Forward Khadija Faye, a graduate student transfer from Texas, scored 14 points and led Pitt with 11 rebounds and six steals, giving her a double-double.

"She's gonna anchor us down," Verdi said on Faye. "Inside, she's going to get her touches. She's gonna get her one-on-ones in the post. She can score. Whether she has one or two players on her, she has the capabilities of scoring the ball."

Colorado transfer in redshirt sophomore guard Mikayla Johnson scored 14 points, tying her for second on Pitt with Faye.

Sophomore guard Aaryn Battle scored 11 point on 5-for-7 shooting from the floor and junior guard Aislin Malcolm scored 14 points. Sophomore forward Lauren Rust started the game and grabbed 10 rebounds.

Verdi is excited for his depth that he has this season and will use it to create defensive intensity, give players more chances to excel and earn some more victories.

"We have some depth and so, when you look at it, you have Aislin Malcolm, who started for us last year, coming off the bench this year for us," Verdi said. "You have MJ coming off the bench for us as well. She's somebody who can score in bunches and then you have MaKayla Elmore coming in as a post player who can stretch the defense and knock down 3's. It just gives us the opportunity to play several players, stay a little fresher and do some things that we weren't able to do previously."

Pitt women's basketball will start the regular season against mid-major Canisius on Nov. 5 at the Petersen Events Center.

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Published Oct 30, 2024

DOMINIC CAMPBELL

Follow Dominic Campbell on Twitter.