Pitt hopes to Pack the Pete

After winning yet again, the No. 19-ranked Pitt women’s basketball team will look to make it… After winning yet again, the No. 19-ranked Pitt women’s basketball team will look to make it 10 wins in a row when Pitt hosts Louisville at 2 p.m. on Sunday.

And Pitt coach Agnus Berenato wants as many people as possible to see it.

“When you can have several thousand people in the Pete, it creates an electric environment. I want my players to feel that electricity,” Berenato said. “Our sixth man is huge.”

The Panthers (15-3, 5-0 Big East) roll into their meeting with the Cardinals – the sixth annual “Pack the Petersen” event – on a nine-game winning streak, including a 5-0 mark on the road.

The Panthers got the latest of those road wins with a 70-64 victory over St. John’s in Queens, N.Y., on Wednesday night. Pitt built a 33-21 halftime lead and opened the second half on a 16-5 run. The Red Storm never went away, though, and used a 9-0 run to close the gap to 66-60 with one minute left. But that’s as close as it got.

The win was important for the Panthers, who have struggled to beat St. John’s in recent years.

“It was an awesome win,” Berenato said, “We had gone 0-5 against them [in their last five meetings.] We weathered the storm. They’re a tough, physical team.”

The victory pushed Pitt’s win streak to nine games, and that has pushed the Panthers from unranked to No. 21 in the USA Today poll and to No. 19 in the Associated Press poll.

The rankings and the win streak might seem distracting, but Berenato wants to keep her team from becoming complacent.

“I’ve never mentioned the winning streak, we are taking this game by game,” Berenato said. “It’s just about today. We are focused on Louisville.”

The Cardinals are 0-2 on the road against Big East opponents, losing at No. 24 Syracuse, 79-56, and at No. 5 Rutgers, 70-57.

But the Cardinals (12-6, 1-4) pose a formidable threat in Angel McCoughtry, whose 22.8 points per game leads all Big East scorers.

“She’s a phenomenal scorer and all around player,” Berenato said, “She’s all over the court.”

Last year, McCoughtry led the Cardinals with 18 points and 15 rebounds in a 72-59 victory over the Panthers at Freedom Hall in Louisville.

Shavonte Zellous scored 22 points in that game and is second in the Big East in scoring this year, averaging 21.4 points per game. The Cardinals lead the all-time series, 2-0, winning two years ago in the Petersen Events Center, 71-63.