Pitt shoots for more history

It’s all about gaining respect and achieving some milestones for the Pitt women’s basketball… It’s all about gaining respect and achieving some milestones for the Pitt women’s basketball team.

Cracking the top 15 for the first time in school history? Check. The Panthers currently stand at No. 14 in the Associated Press poll, thanks to an 11-game win streak.

The next task is beating a top-10 team for the first time in school history.

Standing in their way is No. 4 Rutgers.

The Panthers (17-3, 7-0 Big East) look for a statement win to bolster their program as one of the tops in the country when they take on the Scarlet Knights tomorrow at 2 p.m. at the Petersen Events Center.

Pitt is also looking to stay on pace with No. 1-ranked Connecticut atop the Big East standings.

The No. 14 ranking is the Pitt women’s basketball team’s highest ranking in school history. Pitt previously was ranked No. 19 in 1979 and again last week.

Also for the first time since 1979, the Pitt women’s basketball team is ranked higher than the Pitt men’s basketball team, which currently sits at No. 18 in the AP poll.

Pitt has used an 11-game win streak, starting on Dec. 18, to push them from unranked to its top-15 ranking.

The Panthers continued the streak Wednesday night, winning on the road against Villanova, 72-63.

Marcedes Walker almost notched a double-double in the game, scoring 23 points and grabbing nine rebounds. Shavonte Zellous scored 13 points and went 6 for 16 from the field on a rare, poor shooting performance. Trying to get Zellous back on track along with Walker’s presence in the paint will be keys to breaking down Rutgers’ stingy defense.

Walker will have to match up against Rutgers’ center Kia Vaughn. Walker only gives one inch to the 6-foot-4 Vaughn. But Vaughn has a whopping 42 blocked shots on the year.

The Panthers have struggled against the Scarlet Knights, having lost the last 12 meetings against them, including a 24-point road loss last year. Rutgers also leads the all-time series, 21-2.

A statement win against a top-ranked opponent could push the Panthers into the national spotlight and maybe a top-10 ranking.

Rutgers is coming off just its third loss of the season, a tough 63-54 defeat at the hands of West Virginia. Rutgers had a 12-game winning streak going into the game, but it was outworked and outplayed by the Mountaineers.

Epiphanny Prince leads the Scarlet Knights with 13.1 points per game, which ranks only 21st in the Big East. Prince, along with Matee Avajon and Essence Carson, accounts for nearly 60 percent of the Scarlet Knights’ offensive production.

Rutgers averages 60 points per game, compared to Pitt’s average of 76.7 points per game.

But the Scarlet Knights excel on defense and only give up 49.3 points per game, which ranks them second in the Big East behind Connecticut. Pitt holds opponents to 61.3 points per game and ranks ninth in the category.

Whichever team gets the best of the matchup between the Panthers’ high-scoring offense and the Scarlet Knights’ grinding defense will have the inside track to the win.

Both teams sport midseason Naismith Award candidates. Pitt’s tandem of Walker and Zellous make Pitt one of only four teams to have two players vying for the award. The others are Connecticut, Maryland and Stanford. Prince represents Rutgers in the list of candidates.

This will be the first time the Panthers and Scarlet Knights will face off while both are ranked in the AP top 15.

The win would almost certainly raise Pitt’s already school record No. 14 ranking. But a top-10 ranking could also be a possibility.