Panther women look to continue recent success

Coming off its most successful season in the history of the school, Pitt’s women’s basketball… Coming off its most successful season in the history of the school, Pitt’s women’s basketball team looks to start and end the 2008-09 season with even more broken records. The Panthers went to the NCAA Tournament for the first time in 2007 and made the Sweet 16 for the first time last season, and this year, head coach Agnus Berenato wants to take her team even further. ‘We want to win a national championship,’ said Berenato. ‘That’s our goal.’ Pitt lost a key starter in center Marcedes Walker but will return three starters in Xenia Stewart, Jania Sims and Shavonte Zellous, who has been named to the All-Big East team twice in the past. Zellous was selected unanimously to the preseason All-Big East team, in addition to being a Lindy’s second-team All-American, making her one of the top players in the country. ‘Obviously [Walker] was a great talent,’ said Berenato. ‘And she really was the person who put the program on her back. But what you do is you just try to reload. We feel really confident in our student athletes.’ Returning along with Stewart, Sims and Zellous are sophomores Taneisha Harrison, Shayla Scott and Chelsea Cole, who, in Walker’s absence, will be expected to play a more substantial role at center this season. ‘Chelsea has experience, that’s her gig,’ said Berenato. ‘She’s a quick-twitch athlete.’ Joining the team as freshmen are Kate Popovec and Shawnice ‘Pepper’ Wilson, a center and native Pittsburgher. At 6-feett-6-inches, Wilson could bring something to the team that even Walker didn’t have as much of: height. Wilson scored 10 points in her debut as a Panther at Wednesday’s exhibition opener against the OGBR Legends. The team will have the option to run a full-court press this year, and Berenato hopes her team will play a more fast-paced game with so much depth and ability to learn multiple positions. And with Sims’ return after missing most of last season because of academic ineligibility, Pitt won’t be lacking experience, either. Pitt enters the new season unranked in the Associated Press poll and disheartened but not defeated. ‘I think expectations are higher (after making the Sweet 16),’ said Zellous. ‘But looking at the polls, we’re not ranked. So that put a burden on us. We just want other teams to know that Pitt is still here. I don’t want them to think it’s a mistake and that we just lucked out last year.’ ‘We need to work hard and get to where we need to be,’ said Stewart. ‘We’re going to take this program where we need to take it.’ This week, the USA Today/ESPN poll was released, and it placed the Panthers 23rd overall. In the Associated Press poll, Pitt was only one spot out of the top 25. The team is going to face much tougher opponents in the upcoming season, starting Nov. 16 against No. 11 Texas A’amp;M at the State Farm Tip-Off Classic in Baton Rouge. This is the Panthers’ first regular season contest. Later in the season, Pitt hosts No. 2 Maryland Dec. 7, whom it lost to last season on the road, 90-77. No. 16 Notre Dame comes to the Petersen Events Center Feb. 3, right before two tough road games for Pitt against ranked teams. No. 5 Rutgers starts Feb.10, and No. 1 Connecticut starts Feb. 15. Sixteen of the 28 teams the Panthers face this season made last year’s postseason. ‘Figure it out, kids ‘mdash; we need 20 wins to get to the NCAA,’ said Berenato. ‘We have our work cut out for us.’