First-year Head Coach
D'wan Shackleford-Vickroy's young Pitt-Johnstown women's basketball team got the feel and experience of big-time Division I college basketball on Wednesday with a trip to the Petersen Events Center and an exhibition game against the University of Pittsburgh.
Hayden Keith scored a team-high 11 points, and
Belle Bosch added nine points and six rebounds, but the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) Panthers proved to be too strong and closed out the evening with a 106-37 victory.
Prior to Wednesday's exhibition game, a group of Lady Cat Basketball Alumni, coaches, and dignitaries gathered at the IC Light Baseline Club at the Peterson Events Center.
Keith finished with 11 points on 3-5 shooting from behind the arc and 2-2 from the line, and Bosch hit four of her nine shots from the field to lead Pitt-Johnstown. Camille Dominic scored six points, while
Liv West tallied four points and five boards and
M'laya Ainsworth grabbed a team-high eight boards in their Pitt-Johnstown debuts.
Pitt get off to a quick start and used six points each from Amiya Jenkins and Khadija Faye to jump out to a 13-0 lead, before Keith knocked down a pair of free-throws and
Lexi Margolis hit a 3-pointer to get Pitt-Johnstown on the board midway through the opening quarter.
Keith then scored five of her eight first half points to help Pitt-Johnstown play even with the Panthers to begin the second quarter, but Pitt outscored the Mountain Cats, 21-2, over the final 7:51 to build a, 51-17 halftime advantage.
Pitt continued to flex its muscles and extend the lead in the second half and coasted to the win.
Jenkins poured in a game-high 26 points and Faye collected a double-double of 14 points and a game-high 11 rebounds to pace five Panthers who scored in double figures.
Pitt-Johnstown will visit Division I Binghamton (NY) University for an exhibition on Monday, before opening the 2024-25 season against West Virginia Wesleyan and the hosts at the Frostburg State (MD) Jim Crawley Conference Challenge on Nov. 8 and 9.
