Women’s basketball: Panthers hang on for tournament victory

On Monday night, the Pitt women’s basketball team allowed Villanova to come back from a… On Monday night, the Pitt women’s basketball team allowed Villanova to come back from a double-digit deficit to upset the Panthers 54-52 on Pitt’s senior night.

Then on Friday afternoon in the first round of the Big East Tournament, Pitt (14-16, 6-11 Big East) once again blew a big lead as it allowed South Florida (12-19, 3-14 Big East) to come back from 14 down to take a 60-59 lead with 49 seconds remaining in the game.

Except this time, Pitt found a way to come away with a hard-fought 63-60 victory.

“I am really proud of my team,” Pitt head coach Agnus Berenato said in a post-game news conference. “We really wanted to be here [to play] tomorrow. We felt that today would give us tomorrow and that was really important.”

The key play came from two of Pitt’s seniors, who knew they’d be playing their last game with the Panthers had they lost.

Guard Jania Sims found forward Chelsea Cole with a pass and Cole converted the lay-up while getting fouled to give Pitt a 61-60 lead with 28 seconds left. 

“We had a lot of opportunities to score at the end, but that was what was open,” Cole said after the game in the news conference.

After Cole made the free throw, Pitt’s defense forced a South Florida miss.  Pitt senior forward Shayla Scott gathered the rebound, was fouled, and added another free throw to give the Panthers a three point lead with 18 seconds remaining.

When South Florida’s Andrell Smith missed a three-pointer at the buzzer, the Panthers clinched the victory and a berth in the second round.

“USF is a really good team and there isn’t going to be any blow outs,” Sims said in the news conference. “Coach said that if we play our game we would prevail. And we did.”

The win was the second time this season Pitt narrowly defeated South Florida.  On Feb. 12, Pitt came out in front 70-66 in a similar back-and-forth affair at the Petersen Events Center.

And just like they had in the first matchup between these two teams, it was Pitt’s seniors who made the difference.

All four seniors started and each had at least nine points, with guards Jania Sims – who provided the crucial winning pass – and Taneisha Harrison leading the team with 17 and 12, respectively.

The Panthers don’t have long to dwell on the victory.  Pitt, the No. 12 seed, will face the No.  5 seed Marquette Golden Eagles tomorrow afternoon at 2 p.m. at the XL Center in Hartford, Conn.

The game provides the Panthers a perfect opportunity for revenge after they lost a heartbreaking game in overtime 74-70 to Marquette on January 29^th at the Petersen Events Center.