King, Austin Named PNC Achievers of the Week

PITTSBURGH – Women’s Basketball’s Liatu King and Men’s Basketball’s Zack Austin were named the PNC Achievers of the Week behind their strong performances during ACC play. 

Senior Liatu King continued her impressive play this week for the Panthers as she finished the week averaging 24.5 points, 13.5 rebounds, 4.5 blocks, 1.5 steals and 1.5 assists while shooting 63.3% from the field across two home games. King had the best game of her career against #16 Notre Dame Thursday as she netted a game and career-high 34 points to go along with 13 rebounds and three blocks while going 13-for-18 from the floor and 8-for-11 from the charity stripe. The 34-point effort marked the second highest scoring game for a Pitt player inside the Petersen Events Center in history. She also became the first player in the NCAA this season and the first player in over 15 seasons against Notre Dame to post at least 34 points, 13 rebounds and three blocks in a game. She notched her second straight double-double Sunday afternoon against Georgia Tech as she netted 15 points, 14 rebounds and a career-high six blocks while going 6-for-12 from the floor. The six blocks are tied for the most in the ACC this season in a game and the most by a Pitt player since Rita Igbokwe on Jan. 21, 2021. She now has a career-high nine double-doubles on the season while ranking fourth in the ACC in scoring (20.3 ppg), second in rebounding (10.0 rpg), third in blocks (1.9 bpg), fifth in steals (2.0 spg) and third in field goal percentage (55.6%).

Zack Austin scored a season-high 20 points in Pitt’s dominant win at Louisville on Saturday afternoon. The Winston-Salem, NC native was 7-13 from the field and 4-9 from beyond the arc. Austin’s four three-pointers were also a season-best. On one of his threes early in the first half, he surpassed the 1,000-point mark for his career. A transfer from High Point, Austin has started in 13 of the Panthers’ 15 games this season, playing an average of 22.8 minutes per game.  The redshirt junior is averaging 7.7 points and 4.9 rebounds per game in his first year with the Panthers.