Women’s basketball: Beranto to see a familiar face against Seton Hill

The No. 22 Pitt women’s basketball team will be looking to get past the Sweet 16 this season,… The No. 22 Pitt women’s basketball team will be looking to get past the Sweet 16 this season, a goal they fell short of completing the last two seasons.

Their journey begins tonight at 7:00, as head coach Agnus Berenato and company take on the Seton Hill Griffins in an exhibition game at the Petersen Events Center.

This exhibition game means more than most to Berenato, whose daughter Clare is a freshman on the opposing team.

Clare, an Oakland Catholic graduate, plays guard for the Griffins.

“I’m really proud of my daughter,” Berenato said. “But once the ball goes up, it’s all business.”

Clare is very familiar with Pitt’s program and players because she spent many days this summer conditioning with the team.

While the familial ties make a nice story going into this game, the Panthers will have to avoid that distraction to get the season off to a good start, even if it is only an exhibition game.

While the Panthers lost their two leading scorers from last season in guards Shavonte Zellous (22.6 points per game) and Xenia Stewart (10.6 points per game), they return several experienced players who will look to step up this season.

The team should be fine at the guard position. Juniors Jania Sims, Shayla Scott and Taneisha Harrison, and the team’s lone senior, Sophronia Sallard will anchor the team from the backcourt.

“Jainia Sims is our coach on the court,” Berenato said. “We’re excited have our floor general back [from last season].”

Scott and Harrison both averaged slighty more than eight points last season, and Scott started in all 33 of the team’s games.

Sims, on the other hand, barely saw any game action as she was injured in the team’s season opener against Texas A&M. When healthy, Sims has shown she can be one of the premier point guards in the Big East.

Pitt will be bigger down low than most teams this season. Sophomores Shawnice “Pepper” Wilson and Kate Popovec look to build on their promising freshman campaigns.

Wilson, standing at 6-foot-6 and Popovec at 6-foot-3, averaged 6.8 and 4.3 points per game last season, respectively.

The Panthers will need these and other reserve players to improve on their totals from last season if they want to get to that elusive Elite Eight and beyond.

But first, the team must get past Clare and the Seton Hill Griffins.