There is a gap in this year’s Pitt women’s basketball team —not a gap in positions, but… There is a gap in this year’s Pitt women’s basketball team —not a gap in positions, but one in ages.

The team consists of five seniors, six freshmen and not a single sophomore or junior, meaning that unless the team recruits a transfer, the eldest member on the 2011-12 team will be a redshirt sophomore.

It’s uncommon for a team to have such a makeup, and the situation presents head coach Agnus Berenato with an intriguing set of challenges.

“It’s a great opportunity to see how good I am at bringing the old and the new together,” Berenato said at media day. “I have a really old house, and I just put a new kitchen into it, and I really like it. So I thought I’d try it with the team.”

The Panthers lost all three of their would-be juniors — Sarah Ogoke, Kate Popovec and Shawnice “Pepper” Wilson) over the off-season because of transfers, and Pitt’s two freshmen last year, Ashlee Anderson and Leeza Burdgess, redshirted. This will create the perfect storm a year from now, but Berenato said that she won’t let that affect her approach this year.

“That’s not an urgency,” Berenato said, “For me, it’s about practice going on right now.”

Berenato’s seniors will face the difficult task of carrying the team on their backs while pushing along the development of the six freshmen, who will be expected to make major contributions off the bench. For instance, during practices, Berenato asks each senior to shadow a freshman who shares their position, rather than simply work on their own game.

If the freshmen create a mess, Berenato expects the seniors to clean it up for her.

“My philosophy is freshman cause problems, sophomores cause fewer problems, juniors don’t cause problems and seniors solve problems,” Berenato said. “That’s what it comes down to, and that’s on the court and off the court, and it’s their responsibility. As seniors, they need to solve the problems before they get to us.”

That puts plenty of pressure on all five of Pitt’s seniors, but Berenato is placing the majority of the weight on guard Jania Sims’ shoulders.

Sims hasn’t had the easiest college career. She missed the second half of her sophomore season because of academic ineligibility and sat out all but one game the following season because of leg surgery. But she made a strong return last year, and earned an All-Big East Honorable Mention selection.

Berenato said that she always saw potential in Sims.

“I always tell her she has razzle. She has a little bit of pizzazz,” Berenato said. “I said [this] to [Sims] when she came in her freshman year, and nobody believed me. She was quiet, she was introverted. She didn’t speak. But I told her, come her final year, her senior year at Pitt, she will be among the nation’s best point guards, and I stand by that.”

With a sense of humor reminiscent of Berenato’s, Sims asserted that she’s ready to take the reins and do Berenato proud.

“Of course, I’m a Jersey girl. Me and Coach, we’ve got that chemistry because she’s also a Jersey girl,” Sims said. “But I don’t take it as pressure. The team looks up to me, the coaches have confidence in me to be able to take that last shot and know what to do in clutch situations. It’s exciting to be in that position.”

Joining Sims as the team’s senior leaders are Shayla Scott, Taneisha Harrison, Chelsea Cole and Brittaney Thomas.

Harrison and Sims tied for the team lead with 12.9 points last season, followed by Scott with 10.2 and Cole with 9.1 points per game.

With the seniors leading the charge, the Panthers will try to rebound from a rough 2009-10 campaign that saw them finish 5-11 in the Big East after making consecutive Sweet Sixteen appearances in the 2007-08 and 2008-09 seasons.

The downturn hit Berenato hard, to the point where she used the words “extremely disappointed” three different times during her press conference following Pitt’s elimination from the 2010 Big East Tournament.

But just as Berenato isn’t dwelling on Sims’ previous struggles, she won’t allow last season to get to her.

“I don’t want to go back. I’m not even thinking about last year,” Berenato said. “I’m living for today, and I’m living for the future.”