Honestly, walking into the Petersen Events Center—or "The Pete" if you’ve spent more than five minutes in Oakland—feels different this year. There is a specific kind of energy that only comes when a program is grinding through the meat of an ACC calendar. If you are looking for the pitt women’s basketball schedule, you probably already know that the honeymoon phase of the non-conference season is long gone.
We are officially in the thick of it.
Tory Verdi is in his third year now, and the 2025-26 slate he’s put together is, well, it’s a gauntlet. No other way to put it. Following a 2024-25 season that showed some real flashes of what this team could be, the current schedule is designed to see who can actually hang in the toughest conference in the country.
Upcoming Games and the January Grind
The mid-winter stretch is usually where seasons are made or broken. For Pitt, January 2026 is looking like a heavyweight boxing match. They just came off a tough one against Florida State on January 15, and the turnaround is fast.
Basically, if you’re planning your weekends around the Panthers, keep these dates on your radar.
On Sunday, January 18, SMU comes to town for a 1:00 PM tip-off. It’s a bit of a "new look" ACC matchup that feels a little weird if you’re a traditionalist, but that’s the world we live in now. After that, the team hits the road for a late-night battle at Virginia on January 22.
The big one? That’s January 25 against Duke.
Duke is a perennial power, and having them at the Pete on a Sunday afternoon (2:00 PM) is the kind of game that defines a season. If the Panthers can steal that one, the conversation around this program shifts instantly.
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Breaking Down the February Home Stand
February is actually pretty kind to the home fans.
After a road trip to Virginia Tech on January 29, the Panthers settle in for a three-game stretch at home. This is where you want to be if you’re a season ticket holder or just a student looking to use that Oakland Zoo energy.
- February 5: Stanford at 6:00 PM. (Welcome to the ACC, Cardinal).
- February 8: Cal at 1:00 PM.
- February 12: Syracuse at 6:00 PM.
Three games in seven days. It's brutal on the players’ legs, but for fans, it’s a buffet of high-level hoops. The Stanford game is particularly interesting. Watching a West Coast giant fly across the country to play in Pittsburgh in the dead of winter? That’s an advantage Pitt has to capitalize on.
The Pitt Women’s Basketball Schedule: Road Warriors
It's not all home cooking, though. The back half of February is basically a tour of the Atlantic coast.
The Panthers have to fly down to Dallas for a rematch with SMU on February 15, then they come back for a quick breath against Georgia Tech on the 19th, before heading back out. The road games at North Carolina (Feb 22) and Miami (Feb 26) are going to be massive for seeding in the ACC Tournament.
Playing in Chapel Hill is never easy. The history in that building is heavy. But this Pitt roster, led by the likes of Mikayla Johnson and Theresa Hagans Jr., has shown they don't really care about history. They just want to run.
Johnson has been the steady hand for Verdi this year, averaging nearly 12 points a game. When she’s hitting her shots, the floor opens up for Fatima Diakhate to do work in the paint. Diakhate is currently pulling down over 8 rebounds a game, which is basically what keeps this team in contests when the shooting goes cold.
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Why This Schedule Matters for the Program
Let’s be real for a second. Pitt hasn't been a "basketball school" on the women's side in the way the men's team was in the early 2000s. But Tory Verdi was brought in to change the culture. You can see it in how they scheduled. They didn't hide in the non-conference.
They took on Mississippi State in the ACC/SEC Challenge back in December. They played Notre Dame right after Christmas.
"We want to play the best because that's how you become the best," Verdi has said in various pressers.
It's a "sink or swim" mentality.
The pitt women’s basketball schedule concludes with a massive home game against NC State on March 1. If you only go to one game this year, make it that one. Senior Day, the regular-season finale, and a chance to knock off a Wolfpack team that usually spends its March deep in the big dance.
Making the Most of Game Day at the Pete
If you're actually going to these games, there are a few things you should know. First, the seating is mostly General Admission. This is great because you can get right down near the floor if you show up early.
The "Oakland Zoo" isn't just for the men's team. When the students show up, the Pete gets loud. It’s a circular arena, so the sound just bounces around and stays on top of the visiting team. It makes a difference, especially in close games like the win they pulled off at Boston College earlier this month (64-61).
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Parking Tip: Oakland is a nightmare. Honestly. If you can, park in the Soldiers and Sailors garage and just walk up the hill. It’ll save you twenty minutes of circling around Forbes Avenue.
Looking Ahead to the Postseason
The goal is Greensboro. Or wherever the ACC Tournament lands these days.
To get there with a decent seed, Pitt basically needs to defend the home floor in February. Winning those games against Cal and Syracuse is non-negotiable. The ACC is deep this year—Louisville, Notre Dame, and Duke are all top-tier—but the middle of the pack is wide open.
Pitt currently sits at a spot where a strong finish could land them in the top half of the conference. That’s a huge jump from where this program was three years ago.
Actionable Steps for Fans:
- Check the Broadcast: Most games are on ACC Network Extra (ACCNX), but the bigger matchups like Duke and NC State often get moved to the main ACC Network or even ESPN.
- Get Tickets Early: While you can usually walk up, the "big brand" games (Stanford, Duke) are seeing higher demand this season.
- Watch the Injury Report: With a thin rotation, any news on Mikayla Johnson or Theresa Hagans Jr. drastically changes how you should feel about a specific matchup.
- Sync Your Calendar: The final three weeks of the season feature four road games out of six. Make sure you've got the ESPN app alerts on so you don't miss the tip-off times, as they fluctuate wildly between noon and 7:00 PM.
The road to March is narrow, and for the Panthers, it runs directly through the toughest gyms in the country. But for the first time in a long time, it feels like they actually have the map to get there.