Pitt women’s basketball coach Tory Verdi didn’t realize his team was on the verge of a 32-0 run against SMU on Sunday. He heard some chatter from the people at the scorers table with words like “shutout” and “28-0” and “first ever.”
It didn’t matter to him at the moment. Sure, the Panthers had wiped away what was as large as a 32-point lead and were just down three heading into the fourth quarter. The job wasn’t done yet, though. It was still a possession-by-possession affair. They’d made the comeback, but could they win the game?
Going into halftime down 31 points, there were a lot of heads hanging. Pitt (9-9, 1-4 ACC) has had a lot of struggles throughout the season. Verdi is only in his second season at the helm. The Panthers had two players faced with season-ending injuries. While they’ve put together more wins than last year already, nothing has been easy.
Playing the Mustangs wasn’t any different.
Verdi went into the locker room and told the team he didn’t have any magic words. They were getting outworked, not playing together and not defending — all the opposite of traits Verdi wants his program to be known for.
“I challenged them,” Verdi said. “It was all about how they came out of the locker room. I said, ‘Anything is possible if you believe.’ But what I could tell you is that in order to get back in this game, you got to do it together. You got to do it together.”
There wasn’t an instant fix. Marley Washenitz said she didn’t even notice an energy difference at first.
But then the shots started falling. It started with Washenitz, then Mikayla Johnson, then Khadija Faye got into the action in the second half. Pitt started the third quarter with an 8-0 run, and SMU had to call a timeout.
“Once we kind of saw the ball going once or twice for us, we started really gaining energy and confidence,” Washenitz said. “That can honestly change a lot in the game, whether it's just momentum or your confidence as a whole. From there, we just never looked back.”
It really started on the defensive end. The Panthers needed to get stops, especially against Nya Robertson. She scored 21 of SMU’s 49 first-half points — Pitt as a whole only scored 18 points.
“Brooklynn Miles took out Robinson,” Verdi said of his 5-foot-5 senior guard. “She was up three on us. And Brooklynn totally took her out of her game in the second half. Everybody else saw that and saw that energy and effort. Everybody else was like, ‘I'm not gonna let her down.’ ”
Pitt’s MaKayla Elmore tied the game with a major 3-pointer just about a minute into the fourth quarter. The bench absolutely lost their minds in excitement, and suddenly Pitt had a chance at the historic comeback.
Robertson ended the 31-0 run shortly after, but the Panthers had the momentum. Washenitz took the lead for Pitt less than 30 seconds later.
They just had to keep up the intensity.
“We needed to stay connected and just be there for one another and play for each other,” Johnson said. “Everything that we worked on in practice, from coach making sure we perfect each rep or we're going down and back to just recognizing all the little things he always emphasized. The little things matter. The little things can change the outcome of the game.”
With just a minute left, the Panthers were up by 10 points — a 42-point swing since the first half.
The energy was palpable as the clock wound down. The Panthers snapped a three-game losing streak. They made history, and you honestly would’ve thought they punched a ticket to March Madness.
The 32-point comeback tied the record set by Texas State on Feb. 18, 2006, when it trailed UTSA 40-8 late in the first half before winning 73-71 in overtime.
Pitt accomplished the feat in regulation.
“I just couldn’t believe we won,” Washenitz said. “Obviously, to hear the history, that was behind our game, as well, that was just huge and something I've been happy to be a part of. Another reason why I decided to come to Pitt was to make history and to do some things that haven't been done here before. It's just really special.”
Washenitz joked they’ll never be able to have an excuse when trailing again. Verdi said it’s more of a learning lesson because it showed this squad can do anything it sets its mind to.
Losing key players like Amiya Jenkins and Lauren Rust to those season-ending injuries actually played a part in the win. Early adversity set the Panthers up for the grind they had to face on Sunday. They’ve had to readjust how they play a handful of times early in the season.
“That's never something that you want to happen to your team,” Johnson said of the injuries. “So just learning to still come together as a team, even though it feels like it's just lost after loss after loss for us — because that's what it felt like. But we’ve dug deep, are enjoying the process and fighting for the results we want.”
There’s still a long way for this rebuilding program to go, but a marquee win like this will be huge for growth and confidence. Verdi actually got emotional at the end of the game because he was so proud that the women believed they could come back and truly fought for the win.
He wants people who watch Pitt women’s basketball to see a team that plays extremely hard.
“What you saw in the second half was a prime example of who we want to be,” Verdi said. “We want to outwork our opponents. We want to play together. We want to play with passion. We want our fans to see our competitive spirit. That's winning basketball. That’s exactly what I want to bring here to this program.
“It doesn’t happen overnight. And a lot of people want instant gratification. They want this program flipped really quickly in one of the best conferences in the country. It doesn't happen that way. We still have a ways to go.”
First Published: January 16, 2025, 10:00 a.m.