Pitt women’s basketball released their non-conference schedule for the 2023-24 season on Friday, which will be the first for new head coach Tory Verdi.
Verdi is the 10th head coach in 50 years of the program He took over from Lance White, who served as the Panthers’ head coach for five seasons, before athletic director Heather Lyke fired him for accruing a record of 42-99, the worst five year stretch of any head coach in Panthers history.
The most important game of the new schedule will see the Backyard Brawl take place. Pitt will face their rival West Virginia on Saturday, Nov. 11 at the Petersen Events Center for the first time since 2018.
WVU holds a five game winning-streak in the series, which dates back to 2011 when both teams played in the Big East. Pitt last won in Morgantown in February 2011 and last won at home in the rivalry in January 2009, when star guard Shavonte Zellous was still playing. WVU leads the series 28-18 all-time and both teams have won 11 times in Pittsburgh.
Pitt opens the season with a preseason game against Point Park on Monday, Oct. 30. This is the first preseason game that Pitt has played since the start of the 2019-20 season.
Yale will serve as the home opener and the first ever meeting between the two programs on Tuesday, Nov. 7. This is the first game against an Ivy League opponent for Pitt since 2017.
Pitt will travel for a road game against George Mason on Wednesday, Nov. 15, making it the third time in the past four seasons they’ve played each other and the first time in Fairfax, Va. Pitt has won all three matchups all-time.
The City Game will once again take place as Pitt and Duquesne will battle for the best team in Pittsburgh on Saturday, Nov. 18 at UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse.
Pitt will also face Coppin State again for the third straight season. They won the past two games and will face off at the Petersen Events Center on Tuesday, Nov. 21.
The Panthers also will play in two tournaments in 2023. They will play in the Daytona Beach Invitational in Daytona Beach, Fla. for the first time since 2018 on Friday, Nov. 24 and Saturday, Nov. 25 and then the Sun Coast Challenge in Tampa, Fla. on Tuesday Dec. 19 and Wednesday Dec. 20. The teams the Panthers will face off against are to be announced.
There are also two games against New York teams for the first meeting ever between them and the Panthers. Binghamton comes to the Petersen Events Center on Sunday, Dec. 3 and then Le Moyne does the same on Thursday, Dec. 28. Le Moyne is in their first season playing Division I basketball.
Pitt will also take on Saint Francis on Wednesday Nov. 29 for the 14th meeting all-time. Pitt has won the past four games and holds a 10-3 record in the series.
