Women’s basketball: Panthers use early lead to secure first Big East win

The Pitt women’s basketball team earned its first conference victory of the season today with… The Pitt women’s basketball team earned its first conference victory of the season today with a 72-58 win over the Providence Friars.

The Panthers leapt out to a 13-2 lead in the game’s first five minutes and opened up a margin of as high as 21 points before holding off a late Friars comeback.

Junior Taneisha Harrison fell one board shy of a double-double, pacing all Pitt players with 22 points and nine rebounds.

Pitt as a team outrebounded Providence, 60-37, and the Friars’ 17-point first half was the Panthers’ best defensive effort since a 12-point opening half against Mount St. Mary’s last month.

Senior Chelsea Marandola had 22 points for Providence, who dropped to 3-3 in the Big East and 12-7 on the season.

With the victory, Pitt ended its five-game losing streak that coincided with the start of conference play. The Panthers pulled themselves out from the pool of winless Big East teams, rising to 1-5 in the conference and 12-7 overall on the year. Villanova and Seton Hall remain the final two winless squads in the Big East — and they face each other next Saturday.

The Panthers next play a week from today, when they take on the No. 1 Connecticut Huskies at the Petersen Events Center. Connecticut has won 58 straight games.