Pitt cross-country wraps up season, women’s basketball squeaks out win

Over the weekend, Pitt cross-country ran in the last race of its season and Pitt women’s basketball won a game despite committing 25 turnovers.

Cross-country

Pitt cross-country finished out its season on Nov. 15 at the NCAA Mid-Atlantic Regional Championships. The female and male teams competed in the 6k and 10k respectively at Penn State. 

The women’s team finished with 258 points. Senior Sadie Carey-Tharp finished in 29th place, and senior Winnie Incorvaia finished in 35th place, both clocking sub-21-minute times. Both seniors have had standout seasons on the team. 

The women’s team finished in sixth place overall — the best placement the team has had since 2017.

The men’s team finished with 180 points. Junior Luke Simpson finished in 30th place with a time of 30:36.3. First-year Thomas McMahon finished just 1.5 seconds behind Simpson, coming in 31st place with a time of 30:37.8. Five Panthers finished within the top 45, helping the men’s team also finish in sixth place overall. 

No. 1 West Virginia took the women’s team overall win, while No. 1 Villanova took the men’s team overall win. Liam Murphy of Villanova won the men’s race, and Ceili McCabe of West Virginia won the women’s race.

Women’s basketball

Pitt women’s basketball jumped out to a 3-1 start to its season following an away win at Binghamton, winning 61-56 in a matinee matchup in New York.

Pitt won this game coming off a tough loss away at West Virginia that saw it lose 82-54 in a game that was never close.  

Against Binghamton, redshirt sophomore guard Mikayla Johnson, a transfer from Colorado, led the team and notched her first double-double in a Pitt uniform. Johnson had 10 points, 12 rebounds, two assists and two blocks. Sophomore guard Aaryn Battle led Pitt in scoring with 15 points.

The win was a true team effort for the Panthers, who had three players scoring in the double digits. Graduate student center Khadija Faye had 12 points along with eight rebounds. 

Pitt’s defense shined throughout the game, as it held Binghamton to a 35.6% field goal percentage as well as 28% from beyond the three-point line. 

Pitt shot the ball decently against Binghamton, shooting 43.2% from the field. But the worrying statistic was 15-22 shooting from the free throw line, which amounts to roughly 68.2%. With an opponent like Binghamton, this can happen, but against ACC foes, that low of a percentage will not suffice.

One area where Pitt could improve is in turnovers as it turned the ball over 25 times compared to Binghamton’s 14 turnovers. Included in that count are three dead ball turnovers, which were all unforced errors on Pitt’s behalf. 

Pitt only created four steals during the game, while Binghamton had 10, including four from sophomore forward Kendall Bennett. Binghamton is far from the toughest competition that Pitt will face this year, so 25 turnovers against the Bearcats are quite worrisome as the Panthers look ahead at tougher teams on their schedule. 

Pitt takes on Delaware State on Nov. 20 at 11 a.m., which is a game that Pitt can win. The turnover issues and inconsistent shooting could prove a challenge against any opponent they face.