How Sweet it is

Here’s to hoping the Pitt women’s basketball record book was written in pencil.

The Pitt… Here’s to hoping the Pitt women’s basketball record book was written in pencil.

The Pitt women’s basketball team advanced to its first Sweet 16 in school history last night, knocking off the 2005 national champion Baylor Bears, 67-59.

The No. 3-seeded Panthers won their first NCAA Tournament game over a higher-seeded opponent in school history and advance to play the winner of the Stanford vs. University of Texas at El Paso game this weekend.

Pitt’s Marcedes Walker, despite fouling out with five minutes left, just missed notching No. 53 of her career double-doubles, scoring 17 points and grabbing nine rebounds.

Teammate Shavonte Zellous complemented Walker’s performance by scoring 19 points and grabbing six rebounds.

Baylor’s Angela Tisdale and Rachel Allison, two All-Big 12 first-team selections and national player of the year candidates, had 13 and 14 points, respectively. Allison also just missed a double-double by grabbing nine rebounds.

In a mostly half-court oriented game, Pitt shot 40 percent from the field, 60 percent from the free-throw line and committed 12 turnovers. Baylor shot 30 percent and committed 15 turnovers.

A sloppy first half was highlighted by the Panthers’ foul trouble. Pitt was called for 12 fouls, compared to five fouls for Baylor.

Allison and Zellous, also a national player of the year candidate, both struggled with two fouls throughout the first half. Pitt’s Sophronia Sallard also had two fouls for the majority of the first half. Allison sunk a foul shot to score the first point of the game for the Bears.

The Panthers responded with a 5-0 run and eventually secured a 15-7 lead at the midway point in the first half. Baylor responded with a 21-7 run to grab a 28-22 lead with two minutes left in the first half.

The Panthers stormed into the locker room on a 4-0 run on a Xenia Stewart jumper and a Walker layup to close the deficit to two points. Baylor still owned a 28-26 advantage at halftime.

In the first half, the Panthers shot 37 percent from the field and went 1-2 from the line. Baylor shot 32 percent from the field and went 7-11 from the line.

Both teams tried to establish a low-post game and scored 12 points in the paint. Baylor forced eight Pitt turnovers but could not turn them into points. Pitt turned 10 first-half Baylor turnovers into four points.

Baylor sophomore Danielle Wilson led all scorers in the first half with 15 points while also grabbing six rebounds. Tisdale, Baylor’s leading scorer, struggled in the first half, scoring seven points and committing four turnovers.

Despite sitting with foul trouble, Zellous paced the Panthers in the first half with eight points, and Stewart added six points.

Walker scored five points and grabbed five rebounds but was limited to scoring off offensive rebounds.

Pitt called Walker’s number on the first play of the second half, leading to an easy layup. Sallard and Zellous both sank jump shots, and Pitt quickly jumped to a 32-28 lead.

Pitt used its low-post game in an attempt to slow the game to a half-court, defense-oriented tempo as opposed to the transition, high-tempo game Baylor likes to play.

Baylor called a quick timeout with 18 minutes left and tried neutralize Walker in the paint by quickly switching to a zone defense.

Pitt responded by hitting several mid-range jumpers at the top of the key as the Bears’ defense shaded toward Walker below the basket.

Walker excelled throughout the second half even as Baylor’s defense keyed on her. She scored 12 points and grabbed four rebounds.

The Panthers used an 11-5 run starting at the 17-minute mark to grab a 45-37 lead with 12 minutes left.

Pitt extended the lead to 10 points at the midway point in the second half, grabbing a 53-43 lead with 9:43 left in the game.

Baylor responded by ripping off a 7-0 run to close to within three points, capped by a Melissa Jones free throw with 5:28 left in the game.

Walker fouled out on the play as Jones drove and drew a blocking foul on Walker. It was Walker’s fifth of the game, benching her with 5:28 left.

Pitt maintained a three-point lead throughout the game. Baylor had an opportunity at the 2:21 mark when it sent Jones to the line to shoot two foul shots. She missed both, and Pitt made its foul shots down the stretch to close out the victory, 67-59.