Pitt swabs the deck with Pirates

After losing a huge game to Rutgers and senior center Marcedes Walker to injury, Pitt needed a… After losing a huge game to Rutgers and senior center Marcedes Walker to injury, Pitt needed a strong bounce-back effort at home against Seton Hall.

The Panthers squashed any hopes of a letdown last night, defeating Seton Hall, 64-44, at the Petersen Events Center in front of 2,527 fans.

With Walker out after suffering a right ankle sprain Sunday against Rutgers, freshman Chelsea Cole filled in sufficiently by leading the club with 17 points on 8-of-9 shooting from the field. Cole grabbed five rebounds as well.

Although Walker’s injury appeared devastating at the time, her prognosis proved beneficial as she is only out day to day.

But Cole’s impressive performance showed that the Panthers have enough strength underneath the basket to win vital basketball games.

No. 15 Pitt (18-4, 8-1 Big East) had won 11 consecutive contests before the setback against No. 7 Rutgers, who just beat previously undefeated and No. 1 Connecticut on Tuesday night.

Seton Hall dropped to 13-8 and 3-6 in the Big East with the loss.

The Panthers are tied with Connecticut in second place in the conference, but the schedule doesn’t get any easier.

Pitt’s next three games are all against ranked opponents, culminating in a home showdown against Connecticut on Feb. 17.

Taneisha Harrison scored 13 points off the bench for Pitt, and Xenia Stewart and Shavonte Zellous added 10 points a piece for the Panthers.

In a rare off night for Zellous, Pitt’s leading scorer only made 3 of 10 shots in 34 minutes of play.

Sophronia Sallard also made the most of her jump in playing time, recording 10 rebounds, seven on the offensive end. Sallard did not score in 22 minutes.

A standout defensive effort sparked a dominating second half where Pitt outscored the Pirates, 33-16.

Seton Hall only shot 36.4 percent from the field and didn’t help itself out by shooting 50 percent from the free throw line. The Pitt defense forced 18 Pirate turnovers.

Freshman Ebonie Williams paced the Pirates with 13 points. No other Seton Hall player scored more than that.

Williams made a 3-pointer to put the Pirates up 8-2 two minutes into the game, but that would be the team’s biggest advantage.

Seton Hall held the lead until Stewart connected on a 3-pointer of her own with 6:46 left in the half to put Pitt up 19-17.

The Panthers never trailed for the rest of the affair.