We’re now five games into the season, and Pitt’s women’s basketball team is off to a 4-1 start.
However, while there has been excitement surrounding Pitt’s early wins, the program has dealt with two major setbacks already.
Days ago, the program announced that junior guard Amiya Jenkins will miss the entire season after suffering a knee injury. Along with that announcement, Pitt passed along news that Lauren Rust, a sophomore forward, will miss significant time with a leg injury herself.
Jenkins had started all three games for Pitt at the time of her injury. She was averaging 9.7 points per game and got off to a hot start shooting the ball at 43% from the field and 50% from three-point range. Rust, a 6-foot-forward, had also started all three games. She was averaging eight points per game and had just posted a season-best 12 points against West Virginia.
Losing a starter to injury is never easy for any team, regardless of where the program is at in the grand scheme of things. Try losing two.
It’s going to be an uphill battle for Tory Verdi and his team going forward, but since the injuries, the Panthers have earned two hard-fought wins in a row, beating Binghamton on the road and taking down Delaware State on Wednesday at home.
“We needed that,” Verdi said after the win over Delaware State. “We’re fighting through some adversity right now and we were able to get a win on the road and get another good win here today. The pieces are all starting to come back here together.”
Pitt forward Khadija Faye was once again spectacular in the win over Delaware State, posting 21 points and 14 rebounds. Mikayla Johnson contributed 13 and 7, while Brooklynn Miles went a perfect 5 for 5 from the field to score 12 points. Miles also delivered a team-best nine assists in the win. MaKayla Elmore slid into the starting lineup in both recent wins, and against Delaware State, made a strong impact on the glass. She grabbed three offensive rebounds and 7 total rebounds in the winning effort.
Marley Washenitz seems to do all of the little things right for the Panthers — taking charges, setting up teammates, and more. Aislin Malcolm has been a sniper so far, hitting eight of her 15 three-point tries.
Both of those players, along with Aaryn Battle and Bella Perkins, are going to be tasked with more of everything now that the Panthers are down two players.
“Whenever you face adversity, you lose players, other players need to step up,” Verdi said. “You’ve still got to be systematic; you’ve got to put players at different positions, and you’ve got to be able to execute on both sides of the ball. We’re still working through that.”
This will be a learning experience for Pitt. The Panthers now have a matchup with Robert Morris on Saturday at 1 p.m. at the Petersen Events Center to look forward to. That game will be televised on ACC Network Extra.
