Pitt and Louisville fight for second place in Big East

The No. 15 Pitt women’s basketball team and No. 8 Louisville battle for second place in the Big… The No. 15 Pitt women’s basketball team and No. 8 Louisville battle for second place in the Big East on Saturday at 2 p.m. at Freedom Hall. The Panthers (21-5, 11-3 Big East) are currently third in the conference, while the Cardinals (25-3, 12-2 Big East) are two games behind Connecticut in second place. A win on Louisville’s senior night would pull Pitt into a tie for second place and give it the tiebreaker over the Cardinals. The game is a matchup between the conference’s two best scorers. Louisville senior Angel McCoughtry averages 23.4 points per game to top the Big East and Pitt’s Shavonte Zellous is close behind at 23.0 points per game. McCoughtry became Louisville’s career-scoring leader earlier this season, while Zellous passed the 2,000-point mark this year. Both McCoughtry and Zellous were named to the Naismith Trophy midseason list. The trophy is given to the players of the year in both men’s and women’s basketball. ‘Obviously, you aren’t going to stop Angel, but we are going to try and limit her,’ said Pitt coach Agnus Berenato. Last week, McCoughtry was named the Big East Player of the Week. It was the second week in a row she received the honor and the sixth time this season. Along with pacing the Cardinals in points, the senior leads the team with 9.3 rebounds per game. ‘It’s a big game, it’s senior night,’ said Berenato. ‘They have a great home court. It’s Angel’s senior night, so it’s a big game for her.’ Berenato said the Cardinals will utilize the transition game and expects them to press for 40 minutes. During practice this week, she said that the Panthers specifically concentrated on bringing the ball up the court under pressure. ‘They like to push the ball and run the ball. They like to get steals and wind up with a quick score,’ said Berenato. The Panthers are coming off a 72-60 win over West Virginia on Tuesday to sweep the Mountaineers this season. With the victory, Pitt clinched nothing less than a No. 3 seed in the Big East tournament. Zellous scored 25 points in the victory. Louisville defeated Villanova 70-56 on Saturday. McCoughtry scored 34 points and grabbed nine rebounds. This is the last road game for the Panthers, with only one home contest remaining after that. The team returns to the Petersen Events Center to take on St. John’s on March 2, where seniors Zellous and Xenia Stewart will be honored.