Women’s basketball: Panthers fall to Providence

The Pitt women’s basketball team lost its eighth straight conference game on the road to the… The Pitt women’s basketball team lost its eighth straight conference game on the road to the Providence Friars by a score of 66-50 on Saturday.

After losing by 76 points to Notre Dame two weeks ago, Panthers head coach Agnus Berenato declared the start of a “new season” for the women. But so far, that new season has not been kind to Pitt (8-12, 0-8 Big East) as it has fallen to 0-2 and now rides a seven-game losing streak.

Pitt out-rebounded the Friars (11-9, 4-4 Big East) 35-31, pulling in 10 of those on the offensive end. The real difference seemed to come from the team’s turnovers. Pitt had 18 turnovers while the Friars only had 10.

More trouble came from a disappointing performance by the starters. The young and inexperienced starters scored only 25 of the team’s total 50 points. The Friars’ starting five performed much better, scoring 53 of the 66 total team points.

Despite this, the Panthers see real leadership from 5-foot-6 freshman guard Brianna Kiesel, who scored 17 points, shooting eight of 16 from the field. She also pulled in four rebounds.

Kyra Dunn and Chyna Golden contributed 11 and 10 points for Pitt respectively. Dunn also pulled in 10 rebounds, while Golden collected eight. Redshirt sophomore Ashlee Anderson shot 1-for-11 from the field and finished with only four total points.

Providence had three players in double-digit scoring. Senior guard/forward Rachel Barnes had 15 points, while 6-foot-3 sophomore forward Lauren Okafor and senior guard Lola Wells each contributed 13 points to the team’s score.

The women’s team will look to get its first win against St. John’s on Tuesday night at the Petersen Events Center. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m.