Women’s Basketball: NCAA Tournament hopes rest on Big East tourney performance for Panthers

The Big East season didn’t go as planned for the Pitt women’s basketball… The Big East season didn’t go as planned for the Pitt women’s basketball team.

The Panthers (16-13, 5-11) suffered a five-game and a four-game losing streak during conference play, often keeping up with some of the top teams in the conference before fading in the closing minutes.

As Pitt kicks off the Big East tournament today, the Panthers know what they have to do to jump into NCAA Tournament consideration — and it won’t be an easy task.

“We have to run the table,” head coach Agnus Berenato said after Pitt’s 77-65 loss to St. John’s in its regular season finale.

For the Panthers, running the table would mean getting through a tournament bracket that holds five top-25 teams, with three in the top ten, including No. 1 Connecticut, which has won 69 straight games.

Unfortunately for Pitt, three of those top-25 teams are in its side of the bracket: No. 1 Connecticut, No. 6 Notre Dame and No. 16 St. John’s.

But before the Panthers can attempt to avenge their losses from the regular season, they have to get by a team looking for a little revenge of its own.

Pitt opens the Big East tournament as the No. 12 seed in the 16-team tournament with a game against No. 13-seed Louisville at noon today. The Panthers defeated Louisville 72-69 on Feb. 14.

Brittaney Thomas led all scorers with 22 points as Pitt held off the Cardinals earlier this season. The win broke a four-game losing streak for the Panthers and started a stretch of three wins.

Thomas was key in that game for Pitt, taking big shots and making key plays down the stretch when the team could have faltered. A repeat of Thomas’ performance could go a long way in getting the Panthers to Saturday in Hartford.

“[Thomas] really showed no fear, and she showed a lot of character on the offensive end,” Berenato said after the win. “She attacked. She was what we call ‘in the flow of the game,’ and I think she wanted the ball. She wanted to take the shots.”

Since then, Thomas has continued her impressive offensive game, scoring a career-high 27 points in the finale against St. John’s.

Jania Sims and Taneisha Harrison joined Thomas in double figures against Louisville, with 16 and 10 points, respectively.

Four Louisville players scored in double figures in the defeat. Monique Reid led the Cardinals with 20 points, while Keshia Hines added 17. Becky Burke and Shelby Harper contributed 15 and 11 points, respectively.

The Panthers are entering the Big East tournament confidently. With the regular season over they can look forward to a new start.

“We think about back on the games, how we could have beat [teams], and things that we did wrong,” Pitt junior Shayla Scott said. “The Big East tournament is a whole new season, and I think once we realize that, we’ll be able to make a change.”

Berenato said that the team’s “spirit will not be killed.”

“I won’t let it be killed,” Berenato said. “They won’t let it be killed. Our spirit is: Okay, regular season is over. We will not be denied.”

However, Thomas said that there are adjustments that the Panthers need to make in order to find success in the next phase of their season. Most notably, she pointed to rebounding and closing out games.

“We have to want the game,” Thomas said. “At the end of the game, we don’t push it. I don’t want to say that we don’t want it bad enough, but we just don’t put that effort all the way to make it all the way to end and just win the game. We’re going to need more effort, more rebounding, all of that.”

If the Panthers make it past Louisville, they should be able to enter the game against No. 5 Notre Dame with some confidence. Pitt played the Fighting Irish tough in South Bend, eventually losing 86-76 on Feb. 6.

Berenato said she felt like the Panthers were “starting to get it together” after that game. Sure enough, Pitt notched their victory over Louisville shortly after.

Waiting with a double bye if Pitt makes it to the quarterfinals is No. 4-seed St. John’s, the team the Panthers fell to in its season finale. If the Panthers run into the Red Storm again, they’ll be prepared for Kelly McManmon.

McManmon scorched the Panthers from the three in their last meeting, shooting 6-9 from beyond the arc. Berenato said she should be named the Sixth Player of the Year for the conference.