Panthers draw No. 6 seed

Up two spots from last year’s first-ever NCAA Tournament bid, the Pitt women’s basketball team… Up two spots from last year’s first-ever NCAA Tournament bid, the Pitt women’s basketball team earned a No. 6 seed in the Tournament.

At Selection Monday last night, the Panthers, coach Agnus Berenato and 75 others waited at the Petersen Events Center through three rounds of selection before seeing their name on the Jumbotron, which was broadcasting ESPN’s live coverage.

When Pitt (22-10) drew a No. 6 seed against No. 11 seed Wyoming (24-6), the announcement was met with cheers and streamers. Berenato turned away from the bracket she was filling out and celebrated with her team, pumping her fist in anticipation.

“I’m really excited to get a No. 6 seed,” she said. “Who would have [thought] five years ago? I’m excited for the team – they’re really fired up about New Mexico.”

This year, if the Panthers pass Wyoming when they play it on Saturday in Albuquerque, N.M., they’ll face the winner of the game between No. 3 seed Baylor and No. 14 seed Fresno State Monday. From there they could go on to face Stanford, the region’s No. 2 seed, if it advances as well.

Last year, Pitt’s first tournament bid in program history, the Panthers drew a No. 8 pick and faced James Madison in the first round and beat them on Pitt’s home court. They fell the next day to Tennessee.

No. 1 in the Spokane, Wash., bracket, which includesPitt, is Maryland.

The Spokane bracket was announced after the Okalahoma City bracket, in which Tennessee took the No. 1 spot.

North Carolina is No. 1 in the New Orleans bracket. The No. 1 team in the country, UConn, is first in the Greensboro bracket, followed by the No. 2 team in the country, Rutgers, in the No. 2 spot, which came as a surprise to most of the crowd.

“I am just shocked that Rutgers and Connecticut are in the same region, the No. 1 and No. 2 teams,” she said. “They hate each other. During the year, they were 1-1 [against each other].”

Berenato said she thinks traveling will be good for the team this year, as opposed to when the Panthers hosted the first two rounds at the Petersen Events Center.

“Last year it was wonderful to host,” she said, “but when you’re home, you’re here. I don’t know if they really understand the magnitude of the NCAA and getting on a plane and going out to a different region.

“Part of the NCAA is it’s a national tournament, and it’s traveling globally and I’m really excited about it.”

The team will take three seniors on the road: Marcedes Walker, Karlyle Lim and Mallorie Winn.

The trio sat with their teammates in front of the screen, which had been lowered to the floor, wearing T-shirts that said, “Adding to the banner: NCAA appearances: 2006-2007, 2007-2008.”

“I think the team believes we don’t want to just add to the banner, we want to win a national championship,” Berenato said before the selection.

She also referenced how disheartening it was two years ago when the team didn’t get an NCAA bid and said no matter what this year, at least the team knew going in that it was going to have a place in the tournament.

“We can play ourselves out of a bad seed.

“We can’t play ourselves into the tournament,” she said.

She and Walker expressed a little bit of anxiety when it came to the final eight picks and Pitt’s name hadn’t been called yet.

“For us to get a No. 6 seed and play Wyoming in the first round, it’s just exciting,” Walker said. “Last year we were No. 8 and we had to play the No. 1 team right off the bat, so just to get the No. 6 seed, it means a lot.”

Walker added that she’s happy to go out with a bang in her senior year.

“I’m excited to play, I’m excited to get back on the court,” she said.