Panther women look to build on streak tonight

On a night when the Pitt men’s basketball team plays its annual ‘City Game’ against Duquesne,… On a night when the Pitt men’s basketball team plays its annual ‘City Game’ against Duquesne, the Pitt women’s basketball team will do the same. Heading into tonight’s game at the A.J. Palumbo Center, the Panthers (4-1) are riding a four-game win streak ‘mdash; a streak long enough to land them at No. 24 in the latest AP poll. During the Thanksgiving Tournament at Pitt, the Panthers rolled past Elon and Youngstown State by an average of 44 points per game. Duquesne (6-1), which is being led by first-year coach and Pittsburgh basketball legend Suzie McConnell-Serio, heads into the game on a sour note after suffering its first loss of the season to Towson 59-56. Serio, a Pittsburgh native and member of the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame, has had a storied career. She played and coached in the WNBA, won a gold medal with the U.S. women’s basketball team and coached perennial Pittsburgh girl’s basketball powerhouse Oakland Catholic to three state titles. Duquesne, a team that relies on its guards to carry it, is counting on senior guard Kristi Little and junior guards Keri Pryor and Rachel Frederick to lead the way for the Dukes. Little leads the team in scoring with 13.3 points and is followed closely by Pryor’s 11.7 and Frederick’s 11.4. But Pitt has some guards of its own who have shown up to play this year. Shavonte Zellous, Xenia Stewart and Taneisha Harrison will line up to defend the Dukes’ perimeter players. In the recent Thanksgiving Tournament, Zellous averaged 21 points and was named the tournament’s most valuable player. Harrison and Stewart averaged 14.5 and 11.5 points, respectively, in the tournament as well. Still, Pitt’s play in the paint has been a key part of the recent success. With the graduation of star center Marcedes Walker last season, the team seemingly had a void in the paint going into this season. Yet freshman centers Shawnice ‘Pepper’ Wilson and Kate Popovec have emerged as forces down low for the Panthers so far this season. Wilson is averaging 10.4 points and 7.2 rebounds, while Popovec is contributing 5.4 points and 6.8 rebounds off the bench. Pitt will have a significant advantage down low in tonight’s game because of these two players. With Wilson standing at 6-feet-6-inches and Popovec at 6-feet-3-inches, the two hold a height advantage over Duquesne’s players. Duquesne’s tallest player is junior center Amanda Peck, who stands at 6-feet-3-inches.