Women’s Basketball: Cole, Thomas leading struggling Panthers

If the Pitt women’s basketball team is going to succeed in the Big East tournament, the… If the Pitt women’s basketball team is going to succeed in the Big East tournament, the Panthers need more performances like the ones juniors Brittaney Thomas and Chelsea Cole turned in against St. John’s Monday night

In a season tainted with disappointment, Thomas and Cole provided two bright spots during the final stretch of games.

In Pitt’s 77-65 loss to St. John’s, Thomas and Cole were Pitt’s two biggest standouts. Thomas scored a career-high 27 points, while Cole recorded her fifth straight double-double with 10 points and 16 rebounds.

They combined for 15 of Pitt’s 25 field goals.

Thomas began a hot streak on Feb. 15 when she scored 22 points against Louisville.

“I’ve been talking to Coach and thinking about a game like this,” Thomas said after that game. “I felt like when I got hot, I was really in the flow of the game. My teammates and coaches kept telling me to shoot. I just turned it on from there.”

Thomas followed up her performance against Louisville with several other games like that.

After the Louisville game, she scored 13 points against Villanova and Seton Hall and 15 points against Cincinnati, before closing the regular season with her career-high.

“She was really a spark for us tonight,” Berenato said after the loss to St. John’s. “She really was unafraid. She didn’t have any fear offensively tonight.”

Through Thomas, Pitt has found a player to step up and take the critical shots.

Cole started her stretch by scoring 15 points and pulling down 16 rebounds against Villanova. She followed that performance by scoring 10 points and grabbing a career-high 22 rebounds against Seton Hall.

Against DePaul, Cole scored 12 points and grabbed 18 boards. She contributed 20 points and 16 rebounds against Cincinnati.

“Really, the light just went on about six games ago,” Berenato said. “We’re heading to the Big East tournament, and she’ll continue her wrath. We’ll hopefully go to the postseason.”

If the Panthers are going to win enough games in the Big East tournament to reach the postseason, they are going to need Cole and Thomas to continue turning in performances like they have down the stretch of the regular season.

However, they will also need other players to step up.

It’s no coincidence that the best game Pitt played in the Big East came when five players reached double figures.

In that 78-56 victory over Seton Hall on Feb. 20, Thomas and Cole both reached double figures. Taneisha Harrison joined the two with a game-high 20 points and Jania Sims and Shayla Scott each added 10.

After Pitt’s win over Louisville on Feb. 14, Pitt head coach Agnus Berenato said the Panthers needed to have total team contribution because they “don’t have Shavonte Zellous to put up a ton of points,” as the standout from last year graduated and is currently playing in the WNBA.

From that game on, Thomas and Cole have done their part in contributing. Pitt plays its best when the other Panthers follow suit.