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The Pitt State women’s basketball team opened their 2019 season. The first game was against Arkansas in Fayetteville, Arkansas on Thursday, Oct. 24 and the Gorillas lost that game (63-97). However, the Gorillas managed to bounce back and win the second game of the season which was against the University of Kansas Jayhawks in Lawrence on Sunday, Oct. 27 with a win (90-82).
Head coach Amanda Davied believes the team gave it their best effort and believes that the team was happy to open up the season and start playing basketball again.
“We battled hard and competed the best we could,” Davied said. “I thought it was a lot of fun for the girls to get out and play…”
As this is the beginning of the season, Davied is hoping to improve more and make sure everybody gets time to play.
“I think Athena Alvarado… finished some really good plays and hit the boards really hard and she just had an outstanding game in her 18 minutes,” Davied said. “We’ve really just been trying to build our depth and get everybody a lot of minutes and these extra shootings so we can continue to get better…”
In the game against the University of Kansas, junior Maya Williams scored 22 points, sophomore Tristan Gegg scored 20, sophomore Kaylee DaMitz scored 15, and senior Athena Alvarado scored 12. Williams made nine field goals, Gegg made seven, and DaMitz and Alvarado each made six. Gegg and senior Meghan Maher each made four three-point field goals, Williams made three, and DaMitz made two. Gegg and sophomore Sydnee Crain each made two free throws and Williams and DaMitz each made one. Gegg made eight total rebounds, Williams and Alvarado each made seven, and Maher made five.
A few players stood out to Davied over the course of these two games including DaMitz and sophomore Julia Johnson.
“Kaylee DaMitz (stood out to me),” Davied said. “She played a great game as a point guard, really shooting the basketball well. Julia Johnson has been giving us solid minutes in the post area and is continuing to get more experience in our program…”
Looking ahead, the women’s basketball team’s next games are both home games and are part of the MIAA/GAC Conference Challenge. The first game is against Oklahoma Baptist on Friday, Nov. 8 at noon and the second game is against Southwestern Oklahoma State University (SWOSU) on Saturday, Nov. 9 at 7 p.m. Both games will take place in Whetzel Court in the John Lance Arena.
“Well, we’ve got about a week and half here to really improve on us and get ready or really some tough competition at home and on the road,” Davied said. “We’ll play OBU and Southwestern Oklahoma State… at home the eighth and ninth and SWOSU is one of the… top ten teams in the country at number five. So, it’ll be a tough match up for us and so we just really need to continue to get better at what we do.”
