Panthers ready for postseason

After four months of grueling basketball filled with wins and injuries, Pitt women’s… After four months of grueling basketball filled with wins and injuries, Pitt women’s basketball begins its postseason Saturday in the first round of the Big East tournament.

The tournament takes place in Hartford, Conn., with contests beginning Saturday at noon and lasting through the final on Tuesday night. Pitt’s matchup with Villanova kicks off the yearly event.

The top four teams in the Big East receive byes in the first round and play the winners of Saturday’s affairs. The four squads with the worst records in conference play did not qualify for the tournament.

The Panthers (20-9, 10-6 Big East) earned the fifth seed in the 12-team tournament and will square off against the No. 12 seed Villanova in the first round.

Pitt actually tied for fifth in the conference with Syracuse and Louisville, but won the tiebreaker due to victories against both teams during the regular season. In its last regular season contest, Pitt dominated Georgetown, 70-33, on Monday.

“I thought it was huge,” Pitt coach Agnus Berenato said. “We came out from the beginning of the game and knocked them out. It’s huge to finish on a win before the Big East tournament.”

The result is a more beneficial matchup for the Panthers. Pitt defeated Villanova, 72-63, on the road Jan. 30. Senior center Marcedes Walker scored 23 points and collected nine rebounds in the triumph.

Had Pitt fallen to the sixth seed, it would have had to play South Florida in the first round. The Bulls made a furious comeback from an early 18-2 deficit to knock off the Panthers, 65-64, on March 1. Even still, Berenato assured that her club would not look past the Wildcats in the first round.

“Villanova is the team no one wants to play,” Berenato said. “They play a scheme that no one else runs in college basketball. They average 10 made 3-pointers a game and run down the shot clock. When you hold the ball for 30 seconds, you cut the game in half. We have to find a way to create turnovers on defense.”

If the Panthers beat Villanova, they will move on to face No. 9-ranked Notre Dame in the second round. The Fighting Irish, who finished 11-5 in Big East regular-season play, own the fourth seed in the Big East tournament.

The last time these two clubs played, Notre Dame outlasted Pitt, 81-66, on Feb. 10 at South Bend, Ind. Both teams were nationally ranked at the time. But Walker had missed the previous game before that with a badly sprained ankle and guards Shavonte Zellous and Mallorie Winn didn’t practice beforehand.

“We probably would be able to matchup with [Notre Dame] physically before this game,” Berenato said. “[Walker, Winn, and Zellous] were so courageous, they were warriors, but I don’t know if playing was the best thing. They were real disappointed the way the last game turned out.”

Pitt enters the conference tournament having clinched its third consecutive 20-win season for the first time in school history. The win against Georgetown all but secured an NCAA Tournament berth for the Panthers. But Pitt still has much to play for in Hartford.

ESPN.com’s Charlie Creme slotted Pitt into a No. 7 seed in his most recent Bracketology segment Wednesday night. A few wins in the Big East tournament could bump the Panthers up a few places.