Women’s Basketball: Pitt hosts No. 13 NC State in final home game

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It’s quickly becoming lonely at the bottom of the Atlantic Coast Conference standings for the Pitt women’s basketball team.

Following losses to then-last-place Virginia Tech last Thursday and to Syracuse Sunday, the Panthers (11-17, 3-11 ACC) are close to a last-place league finish for the third year in a row with just two games remaining. 

No. 13 North Carolina State visits the Petersen Events Center tonight, with a chance to make history — a win in Pittsburgh would mark the program’s 800th. Only 28 other Division I women’s basketball programs have reached that plateau.

The Wolfpack (23-5, 10-4 ACC) is currently tied for third in the conference standings but has lost two of its last three games after falling to No. 7 Duke on the road and No. 17 North Carolina at home. 

The team has also struggled to defeat lower-tier opponents recently. 

The Wolfpack was able to avoid an upset against Virginia (13-14, 6-8 ACC) Sunday with a 68-66 home win. N.C. State needed a 9-0 run at the end of the game to overcome the Cavaliers’ late lead, and the spurt was capped by a 3-pointer by Kody Burke with 11 seconds left in the game.

In the two games prior to the losses against the Blue Devils and Tar Heels, N.C. State needed overtime periods to win at Virginia Tech (13-14, 3-11 ACC) and Clemson (12-17, 4-11 ACC). 

As for the Panthers, they continue to reel through another difficult conference schedule. Pitt has won just once in the month of February — a 56-43 home win against Clemson Feb. 16 — and lost 10 of its last 12 games in head coach Suzie McConnell-Serio’s first year leading the squad. 

Brianna Kiesel leads the Panthers from the point guard position with 16.6 points per game. She is also the team’s second-leading rebounder, pulling down 5.1 boards per game.

Forward Asia Logan is the only other Panther averaging double-digit scoring with 11.6 points per game and leads the team in rebounding with 6.5 per game. 

For N.C. State, the Wolfpack features a pair of prolific senior scorers in the post that will pose matchup problems for the undersized Panthers. 

6-foot-5 senior Markeisha Gatling anchors the Wolfpack at center and leads the team in scoring and rebounding with 17.3 points and seven rebounds per game. Offensively, Gatling has been a force on the interior, shooting a conference-best 67.8 percent from the field this season. 

Gatling is flanked by 6-foot-4 redshirt senior forward/center Lakeesa Daniel, who is second to her teammate in each category, scoring 15.3 points and pulling down 6.3 rebounds per game. Daniel also spreads the floor from her position, as she ranks second on the team with 33 made 3-pointers. 

On the perimeter, senior guard Myisha Goodwin-Coleman is one of the premier threats from long-range, as she leads the team with 77 3-pointers made this season. Her shooting prowess ranks her second in the conference in made threes and makes up the bulk of her 10.7 points per game.