Florida State University Athletics
Florida State Hosts Pitt on Sunday at 2PM
12/19/2020 7:54:52 PM | Women's Basketball
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (Seminoles.com) – Florida State Women’s Basketball plays host to conference foe Pittsburgh on Sunday afternoon at 2 p.m. at the Donald L. Tucker Center. It is FSU’s last scheduled game in the 2020 calendar year.
Sunday’s ACC battle between the Florida State Seminoles (2-1, 1-1) and Pittsburgh Panthers (3-2, 1-1) is a reunion of coaches in Brooke Wyckoff and Lance White whom enjoyed a great deal of success as part of the Florida State coaching staff. Wyckoff and White coached together at Florida State for seven seasons from 2011-2018, helping the Seminoles to six NCAA Tournament berths, three NCAA Sweet 16s and two NCAA Elite Eights in that span. Wyckoff coaches against White as head coach for the first time in her career.
“It will be a fun opportunity to go against Coach White, who taught me so much,” Wyckoff said. “Apart from Coach Sue, who I am as a coach today is a reflection of Lance. I’m grateful for the seven years of being under his tutelage and watching the way he teaches.”
This team will continue to push forward #COMMIT pic.twitter.com/q2OYGPeD14
— FSU Women’s Hoops (@fsuwbb) December 19, 2020
Pittsburgh is off to a nice start under White, showing much progression with him beginning his third season. Junior guard Jayla Everett leads the Panthers with 19.6 points, which ranks second in the conference. She has formed a strong 1-2 punch with sophomore guard Dayshanette Harris, who is averaging 15.6 points and 6.4 rebounds.
“They’ve got excellent players and really talented guards,” Wyckoff added. “They’ve got really talented scorers and are fast; that will be a huge defensive assignment trying to find out how to stop both of them (Everett and Harris). They’re a team that has some games under their belt and are in their third season under Coach White, and they’re an ACC team that’s very dangerous.”
Florida State is coming off its first loss of the season at Clemson, falling 72-69 in a close game throughout. Junior guard Kourtney Weber continues to elevate her play this season, churning out her first career 20-point game with a game-high 21 points which included going 7-of-11 from the floor. The New Orleans native begins her junior season with three straight double-figure games, the longest stretch of her career.
The Seminoles have been getting it done from the free throw line this season. Through three games, FSU is shooting 82 percent (50-of-61) from the charity stripe to rank 14th nationally and second in the ACC. The Noles kept themselves in the game vs. Clemson by going 17-of-19 from the line. In each of the previous four seasons, FSU has shot 70 percent or better from the free throw line.
Last year’s game at Pitt was dead-locked at halftime until the Seminoles out-scored the Panthers 46-21 in the second half to leave the Steel City with a 66-41 win. Sammie Puisis played a big role in the victory last season with 12 points on four 3-point field goals in 23:24.
Always great talking to @izanicoletti06
Watch our pre-game segment with everyone’s favorite Brazilian #COMMIT pic.twitter.com/iGT7D68JZD
— FSU Women’s Hoops (@fsuwbb) December 19, 2020
Puisis has made multiple 3-point field goals in two of her three games this season. In her 34-game career, Puisis has made two or more 3s in 18 of her games played
Florida State enters Sunday’s game vs. Pitt having played the fewest amount of games by an ACC team this season. Duke has played the second-fewest with four games, while Louisville, Pitt, Syracuse, Georgia Tech, Miami and Virginia have each played five games.
In ACC play, FSU only trails Clemson in offensive rebounding percentage at 42.9 percent, grabbing 30 offensive boards vs. 40 defensive rebounds grabbed by its two ACC opponents. In its last game vs. Clemson, River Baldwin rebounded 19.5 percent of FSU’s missed shots while she was on the floor.
