March Madness: Lady Panthers won’t take part in this year’s NCAA Tournament

The Pitt women’s basketball team won’t be playing in the NCAA Tournament this… The Pitt women’s basketball team won’t be playing in the NCAA Tournament this year, it’s accepted a spot in the Women’s National Invitation Tournament.

For the Panthers, it’s a chance to start over.

“It’s a whole new season for us,” Head Coach Agnus Berenato said. “We’re not looking at it as this season.”

The Panthers also considered the Big East tournament a new season, but Pitt fell to Louisville 79-71 in the first round. The Panthers hope to have better luck against their first round opponent, who will be announced Monday night, in the Women’s National Invitation Tournament.

As Pitt prepares for the postseason, Berenato said the Panthers have to focus on improving their defense. Although it started to improve later in the season, Berenato said that her team was still giving up too many points.

The Panthers are second to last in the conference in scoring defense — allowing 65.1 points per game. In its last regular season game, Pitt gave up 77 points to St. John’s in a loss. In the next game, Louisville put up 79 points on the Panthers.

As for bright spots, no player has performed better down the stretch for the Panthers than Chelsea Cole. Cole finished the regular season with five straight double-doubles and continued the streak into the Big East tournament.

Against the Cardinals, Cole scored 12 points and collected 10 rebounds. In Pitt’s regular season finale, she put up 10 points and pulled down 16 rebounds, seven offensive.

She finished as the Big East’s top rebounder, grabbing 11.3 rebounds per game. She also pulled down a league-leading 4.7 offensive rebounds a game.

Cole also provided valuable leadership for the Panthers, Berenato said, something Pitt worked to find throughout the season.

“Anybody can be a leader,” Berenato said. “[Several] girls have been trying to have a voice.”

Berenato mentioned that along with Cole, Jania Sims and Taneisha Harrison have also taken on a leadership role for the Panthers. Sims and Cole were both named to the Big East Honorable Mention team.

Sims leads the Panthers in scoring, averaging 13 points a game. Harrison is second, scoring 12.7 points per contest.

Junior Brittaney Thomas also performed well recently, particularly in Pitt’s regular season finale when she scored a career-high 27 points. She also led the Panthers in scoring against Louisville, when she scored 21 points. She averages 8.5 points per game.

Behind the leadership and improvement, the Panthers found a way to win four out of their last seven games after starting the Big East season on a five-game losing streak and suffering through a four-game losing skid later in conference play.

“We saw the light at the end of the tunnel and we broke through,” Berenato said. “We’ve been playing better defense. We have better chemistry on the court.”

For the Panthers, a team without seniors on the roster, the post-season isn’t only a chance to continue to play this season; it’s an opportunity to improve for next year.

“We’re excited to compete and to define who we are going to be in the future,” Berenato said.