West Virginia
Pitt Women’s Basketball Dealt Blowout vs. West Virginia
PITTSBURGH — Pitt Panthers women’s basketball suffered their first defeat of the season, an 82-54 blowout to rival No. 15 West Virginia in the Backyard Brawl on the road on Nov. 12.
The Panthers (2-1) lose their seventh straight to the Mountaineers (3-0) since 2011, when they both played in the Big East. It also makes it 59 straight losses to a ranked opponent since 2015.
This is the fourth game they’ve played since departing the Big East, with losses at home in 2018 and 2023 and losses on the road this season and in 2017. This also drops Pitt to 7-15 on the road vs. WVU and 18-30 in the all-time series.
Pitt saw one of their best players suffer an early injury in the first minute of the first quarter, as junior guard Amiya Jenkins fell to the ground and grabbing her left knee. Medical staff helped her off the court, but her abscence didn’t help Pitt at all, especially on offense.
The Panthers shot 19-for-58 from the field, 32.8%, and 5-for-22 from 3-point range, 22.7%, as they struggled to break down the Mountaineers’ halfcourt defense.
Pitt also had a tough time dealing with WVU’s press, as they turned the ball over 30 times, leading to 34 points for the home team.
The 30 turnovers Pitt committed is the most since they committed 35 turnovers in an 81-39 defeat to then ranked No. 3 Louisville on the road on Jan. 6, 2022.
The Mountaineers shot poorly themselves, 27-for-68 from the field, 39.7%, and 6-for-30 from behind the arc, 20%.
Both teams shot well from the foul line, with Pitt making 11-of-15 attempts, 73.3%, and West Virginia converting 22-of-27 attempts, 81.5%. The rivalry featured both teams committing more than 20 fouls each, leading to large number of foul shots.
Graduate student center Khadija Faye led the Panthers with her second double-double of the season, 14 points on 6-for-8 shooting and two free throws, plus 12 rebounds before fouling out.
Sophomore forward Lauren Rust had the best game of her Pitt career, scoring 12 points, making a 3-pointer and all three free throws. Senior forward MaKayla Elmore added nine points herself, making a 3-pointer and two foul shots.
Players that struggled for Pitt included guards in redshirt sophomore Mikayla Johnson, who shot 4-for-20 from the field and 1-for-10 from deep and both senior Brooklynn Miles and junior Marley Washenitz, who combined for 0-for-9 from the field and scored zero points.
West Virginia got production from guards in senior JJ Quinerly, who led the way with 17 points, and juniors Jordan Harrison and Sydney Shaw, who scored 14 points and 11 points each, respectively.
Pitt will stay on the road this weekend and look to bounce back as they face Binghamton in Vestal, N.Y. on Nov. 17 with a 1:30 p.m. tip-off.
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A long-time fixture in pro football is potentially heading to college football as a head coach.
And not that one.
Anthony Becht, a first-round pick on the Jets who played for 11 years in the NFL as a tight end, has interviewed for the West Virginia head-coaching job, PFT has confirmed.
It was, we’re told, a Zoom interview. It’s unknown whether Becht will get an in-person interview.
Why shouldn’t he? He seems to be interested, and it’s not like the program had a short list of clear favorites for the job.
There’s plenty of chatter locally about a potential return by Rich Rodriguez, 17 years after he left to coach at Michigan. Fired after three years with the Wolverines, Rodriguez landed at Arizona. He was fired in Arizona after the 2017 season, after an internal investigation sparked by the filing of a hostile work environment lawsuit. Rodriguez has spent the last three seasons as the head coach at Jacksonville State.
Becht spent five years as a player at West Virginia. He’s currently the head coach of the St. Louis Battlehawks. This season, he replaced Marty Lyons as the analyst for the radio broadcast of New York Jets games.
Becht’s son, Rocco, is the starting quarterback at Iowa State. The Cyclones beat West Virginia in October; that same night, the Mountaineers honored Anthony Becht’s induction into the WVU Sports Hall of Fame.
Eight days ago, West Virginia fired Neal Brown, who served as the head coach for six seasons.
West Virginia Director of Athletics Wren Baker is searching far and wide for the next head football coach, looking at all possibilities. Penn State offensive coordinator Andy Kotelnicki, former WVU head coach Rich Rodriguez, and Army’s Jeff Monken are the three names that appear to be sticking out at the moment.
However, a new name has emerged.
According to ESPN senior NFL analyst, Adam Schefter, former West Virginia tight end and current head coach of the St. Louis BattleHawks, Anthony Becht, has interviewed for the WVU head coaching job.
Last week, Becht was asked about his interest in the WVU job during a radio interview with Wolf and Luke on Arizona Sports.
“I’ve won 70% of my games in two years. We’ve put 24 guys in two seasons in NFL training camps, so we’re developing players. And we fill the stands in St. Louis. And I constructed a team from zero players to the team we have now. I touched all those things in two seasons and we’ll continue to do that. We’re going to win a championship here soon.
“Listen, I have the credentials and I’m starting to check those boxes. It’s now like, okay, let’s get in front of this guy and see what he says, see what he’s doing. What is that plan? How does it look? I’m open to any call, whether it’s West Virginia or anyone else.”
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