Perennial power UConn visits the Pete on Sunday

Pitt women’s basketball faces a tall task Sunday when it squares off against perennial… Pitt women’s basketball faces a tall task Sunday when it squares off against perennial powerhouse Connecticut at 2 p.m. in the Petersen Events Center. The game will be televised on ESPNU.

The Panthers have lost three out of their past four contests, and things won’t get any easier against the No. 2 Huskies.

No. 18 Pitt (18-6, 8-3 Big East) is caught in its toughest stretch of the season, facing five ranked teams in seven games. The club needs to rebound after getting smacked at West Virginia, 56-35, on Wednesday night.

That performance was undoubtedly the worst of the year for the Panthers, particularly on offense. Pitt shot 20 percent from the field and made four baskets in 18 attempts in the first half, scoring only 13 points.

“You can’t just say we were having an off night,” said Pitt coach Agnus Berenato after the game. “We were missing inside, outside, wide-open shots. We were missing everything.”

Uncharacteristically sloppy play doomed the Panthers as well. The team committed 20 turnovers and only had three assists.

Both trends will have to be erased in order to knock off a prestigious Connecticut squad.

“I’m really proud of this team, and I’m proud of our teamwork,” Berenato said. “We get assists, and, honestly, no one cares who scores the points. The assists we do care about.”

Connecticut (23-1, 10-1) won its first 21 games before falling to No. 4 Rutgers, 73-71, on Feb. 5. Connecticut had been the top-ranked team in the nation for seven consecutive weeks before the loss.

But the Huskies directed their anger from the defeat to Seton Hall and Georgetown in the following two games.

Connecticut blasted the two Big East teams by a combined 78 points.

Connecticut stands alone atop the conference, one half game ahead of West Virginia and Rutgers.

The Huskies have dominated the Panthers over the years, holding a 35-9 advantage in the overall series.

College basketball legend Geno Auriemma coaches the Huskies. In his 23 seasons as the leader of Connecticut, Auriemma has guided his squads to five national championships and has been named the Associated Press Coach of the Year four times.

Auriemma has tallied 644 career wins, an average of 28 per season.

Dynamic freshman Maya Moore has jumped directly into the fray as a major contributor. The 18-year-old forward currently paces the club with 17.7 points a game while connecting on 44 percent of her 3-pointers.

Standing at 6-foot-4, Connecticut center Tina Charles is a handful underneath the basket. Charles leads the team in rebounding, averaging almost 10 a game while adding 14.4 points per game.

Guard Renee Montgomery is a weapon for the Huskies as well. The junior was a first-team, All-Big East performer last season and is third on her team in scoring.

The Huskies lost a key contributor, Kalana Greene, for the season to an ACL tear in December.

Moore and Charles both are part of the Wooden and Naismith Midseason lists, joining Pitt’s Marcedes Walker and Shavonte Zellous.

Walker will handle the job of containing Charles but must do so with a bothersome ankle injury that she suffered in a loss to Rutgers two weeks ago. West Virginia coach Mike Carey said after his team’s victory over Pitt that he has seen Walker move a lot better than she did on Wednesday.

Pitt’s stars look to bounce back from substandard performances against the Mountaineers. Zellous, Pitt’s scoring leader with 19.3 points per game, mustered only six points. Walker made two free throws to account for her total.

The Panthers may be happy enough just to return to the comfort of the Petersen Events Center. Pitt played in two consecutive hostile road environments against Notre Dame and West Virginia and fell in both contests.

Pitt is 10-2 at home on the season.

Fans are asked to wear pink to the game for the first-annual “Pink the Pete” event in support of breast cancer awareness.