Pressure helps Cardinals drop Pitt women

The Pitt men’s basketball team made the trip to Providence on Tuesday, and the Panthers were… The Pitt men’s basketball team made the trip to Providence on Tuesday, and the Panthers were knocked off on an emotional senior night. The Pitt women’s team experienced something similar on Saturday night. Louisville seniors Candyce Bingham and Angel McCoughtry excelled on senior day, helping the No. 8 Cardinals trample Pitt’s hopes of becoming the second seed in the Big East with a 75-51 win. Pitt never obtained a lead, but held tight through much of the first half and trailed by six at intermission. But Louisville’s late-game intensity was uncontainable. Following the leadership of McCoughtry and Bingham, the Cardinals controlled the game with a dominant second half. Bingham outscored everyone with a career high of 26 points, while McCoughtry contributed 22 points and seven rebounds for the Cardinals. Averaging 23.4 points per game, McCoughtry is currently the sixth-leading scorer in the country followed by Pitt’s Shavonte Zellous, who averages 23 points. Zellous ended with 15 points for the night. Sophronia Sallard followed with 13. The loss snapped the Panthers’ three-game winning streak, moving Pitt to 21-6 overall and 11-4 in league play.’ Pitt cannot move up or down in the conference now. ‘We wanted the win, but no matter what happens against St. John’s we will finish third in the Big East, and I think that is an amazing accomplishment,’ said Pitt coach Agnus Berenato. Louisville used its half-court press to pressure Pitt, and it took the Panthers nearly 10 minutes to reach double digits. The pressure from the Cardinals resulted in 15 Pitt turnovers in the first half. Pitt averaged 14 turnovers per game throughout this season. With a perfect 5-of-5 shooting at the half, Sallard was one of the only factors that kept Pitt in the game during the first half. ‘We were very lucky to be so close at the half, with the number of turnovers we had,’ said Berenato. ‘I told the girls, if we cut the turnovers in half, that’s seven more possessions and 14 points for us. We had 25 turnovers for the game.’ Four minutes into the second half, Zellous acquired a quiet 14 points and Xenia Stewart stepped up offensively to bring the Panthers within three, 43-40. There was a brief exchange of baskets in transition before Louisville’s crowd became too much for Pitt. The 11,000 enthusiastic supporters became the sixth man for the Cardinals. Down by seven with 12:51 on the clock, Berenato called a timeout in attempt to break the increasing Cardinal momentum, but it was too late. The Panthers went scoreless for eight minutes, while Louisville took center stage making the score 62-45 before the Panthers found the basket. Louisville outscored the Panthers 44-18 in the paint. ‘The eight-minute drought was the game,’ said Berenato. ‘We struggled with the pressure, lost focus, the crowd got into it and there was a snowball effect of dumb mistakes.’ The Panthers were outscored 26-7 in the last 12 minutes of the game. Pitt has one chance to bounce back before the Big East tournament when it plays St. John’s Monday night. Clenching the No. 3 seed, gives the Panthers a bye in the Big East tournament. The top four seeds automatically advance to the quarterfinals. ‘ ‘I’m glad this is not the last game of the season,’ said Berenato. ‘We will get back in the gym, and get ready for our senior day against St. John’s. Stewart and Zellous have worked so hard to lead our team all year, and we all deserve to get rid of this feeling we have as the result of this game.’