Panthers hope to topple competition in tournament

It’s been repeated over and over during the past few years ‘- Pitt women’s basketball just keeps… It’s been repeated over and over during the past few years ‘- Pitt women’s basketball just keeps getting better. In 2008, the Panthers made the Sweet 16 for the first time, one season after their first appearance and win in the NCAA Tournament. Over those two years, the team has seen its highest ranking in school history (No. 14 currently and in 2007-08) and a victory over a top-10 team (first over No. 9 Notre Dame in 2008 and again this year over a No. 8 Maryland team on Dec. 7). The question now, heading into the Big East tournament, is what’s next? ‘We’re really excited for the staff and the team that we were able to finish third in what we consider the nation’s toughest conference,’ said Pitt coach Agnus Berenato. ‘Our goal is to go and win it all. We’re not sorry about saying it.’ The Panthers (22-6, 12-4 Big East) have never won the Big East tournament and have only been regular season champions once, when they shared the crown with Villanova in the 1983-84 season. This year, Pitt solidified a No. 3 seed in the tournament and receives a bye in the first two rounds. Pitt won’t know for sure which team’ it plays until Saturday, but it will face either No. 6-ranked DePaul, No. 11 West Virginia or No. 14 Providence. In the regular season, Pitt beat West Virginia both times, but lost to both DePaul and Providence. Prior to the tournament, Pitt senior Shavonte Zellous was named to the All-Big East first team for the third year in a row. She was accompanied by senior Xenia Stewart on the second team and Shawnice ‘Pepper’ Wilson on the All-Freshmen team. While an automatic jump to the quarterfinals sounds good, it is in no way going to be an easy road to the championship. With teams like Connecticut (30-0, 16-0) and Louisville (27-3, 14-2) vying for the title, it’s going to be a long trip for the Panthers. Connecticut’s perfect record earned it the No. 1 seed in addition to winning the regular season crown. The Huskies will clearly be the biggest obstacle for Pitt and any other team that plays them in the tournament. Connecticut brings along an outstanding senior guard in Renee Montgomery, who was recently awarded the Frances Pomeroy Naismith Award and this season’s Big East Sportsmanship Award. Montgomery averaged 16.6 points per game this season and has scored in double figures in 16 straight contests. Connecticut also has a tough sophomore forward in Maya Moore, who averages 18.9 points and 9.1 rebounds per game. The Panthers lost a tough 95-42 contest against Connecticut in Storrs, on Feb. 15, but the tournament is hosted at the XL Center in Hartford. While it hopes to give the Huskies a good run, Pitt remains realistic. ‘I don’t believe that Connecticut is going to get upset in the Big East,’ said Berenato. ‘But we’re going to give them everything we have.’ Shortly after its loss to Connecticut, Pitt beat Villanova in a game that allowed the Panthers to overtake the Wildcats in the standings and put them in third place. Pitt’s only loss since then came at the hands of the Big East tournament’s No. 2 seed, Louisville. The No. 7 Cardinals have only lost two conference games this season, one to Connecticut and the other to an unranked West Virginia. Look for an intense matchup between their star player and all-time leading scorer, Angel McCoughtry, who averages 23.4 points per game, and Pitt’s Zellous, who is averaging 22.6 points per game. If Pitt wins its first game, it could face Louisville in the semifinals, and the Panthers would only see Connecticut in Tuesday’s finals, pending wins in its first and second games. Though tough games loom, Berenato and her team are focused on themselves, not on probable opponents. ‘I don’t care who we play, we like our bracket,’ said Berenato. ‘Often times in the season you’re so worried about the other teams that you forget about your own place. I’m very conscious that we don’t want to wear our kids down. What we have to do is focus on us.’ In the 2008 tournament, the Panthers beat Villanova and upset No.4-seeded Notre Dame before losing to eventual champion Connecticut in the semifinals 74-47. Pitt’s first game in the quarterfinals takes place Sunday at 8 p.m., and can be seen on ESPNU.