Zellous’ effort propels Panthers to second round

Shavonte Zellous does not want her senior season to end. By scoring 31 of fourth-seeded Pitt’s… Shavonte Zellous does not want her senior season to end. By scoring 31 of fourth-seeded Pitt’s total 64 points on Saturday night, the senior guard led her team to a win in the first round of the NCAA Tournament against No. 13-seed Montana Lady Griz 64-35. Zellous, who scored nearly half of the Panthers’ total points, carried the team throughout, scoring 15 of the team’s 26 first-half points. ‘The first half I just kind of put the team on my shoulders and willed us to get through it and get to the second half,’ said Zellous to the Associated Press. With her fifth 30-point game of the season, Zellous became Pitt’s all-time single-season scoring leader. At first, it looked like Montana would challenge Pitt. It got the ball first, but neither team scored in the first two minutes until Zellous connected on a jumper to put Pitt on the board. Montana kept up, however, and led early 12-6 after a 10-4 run. Zellous got Pitt back on its feet, bringing the score to 12-10. The Griz maintained their lead throughout most of the first half, though Pitt was never out of the game. Most of the scores continued to come from Zellous, though sophomore center Chelsea Cole contributed four points in the first half. With three minutes to go in the first half, Zellous made a 3-point jumper to bring Pitt within three at 22-19. Montana missed its next shot, and Shayla Scott rebounded before Cole scored two and brought Pitt within one. Montana’s Laura Beck answered with a 3-pointer of her own, bringing the Lady Griz’s lead back to four at 25-21. Zellous hit a jumper followed by another from Scott to tie the game at 25 before senior Xenia Stewart was fouled and made one of her two free throws to give Pitt its first lead since the opening minutes of the game. The second half ended up looking like an entirely different game, and Zellous started to get some more help. Zellous scored the first four points of the second half before being answered from Montana’s Mandy Morales, who brought the Griz within one, 28-27. After that, Pitt was unstoppable. The Panthers went on a 21-0 scoring run in the next 10 minutes. Their run was halted only by a free throw that came with eight minutes left in the game. Four minutes and seven more Pitt points later, the Griz scored a field goal, but the game might as well have been over. With eight minutes to go in the game, Zellous’ 27 points almost outscored Montana, which had 28 as a team. With the score at 56-30, Montana tried to make a last-ditch effort, scoring seven of its 10 second-half points in the final minutes, but Pitt had pulled too far away after having struggled in the first half. With only 10 points scored as a team in the second half, Montana tied the Tournament record for fewest points scored in a half. In 2001, Connecticut allowed Long Island to tally the same number in a first-round game. Scott scored in double digits for Pitt, putting up 11, nine of which came in the second half, and bringing down five rebounds. Zellous had nine rebounds to add to her 31 points and Cole had five rebounds to add to her four first-half points. All but one member of Pitt’s team ended up scoring, although every player saw time on the floor. Pitt heads into the second round of Tournament play Monday when it takes on No. 12-seed Gonzaga tonight at 9:30 p.m. in Seattle.