Women’s hoops falls just short

Neither Pitt basketball club could avoid disaster at the buzzers on Saturday. The women’s… Neither Pitt basketball club could avoid disaster at the buzzers on Saturday. The women’s team, however, was the one to suffer.

With only 1.2 seconds remaining, Duke’s Joy Cheek retrieved a blocked shot by Pitt forward Chelsea Cole and scored the putback to give the Blue Devils a 51-49 victory in the first game of the Maggie Dixon Classic at Madison Square Garden.

“I had a great day at work until that last 1.2 seconds,” Berenato said. “When you come as close as we did to beating a Top-25 team like Duke, you have to seize it, and we didn’t today.”

Jania Sims tied the game at 49 on a layup with 1:16 to go but Pitt (6-3) missed two vital chances to take the lead in the final minute.

Shavonte Zellous missed a jumper with 27 seconds to go, but freshman Chelsea Cole grabbed the offensive rebound. Cole, however, couldn’t convert her putback, setting up Duke’s final possession.

Zellous’ attempt came after a clutch steal by Sims, which followed Pitt’s 9-2 run to tie the game.

“You just got to make that shot,” Pitt coach Agnus Berenato told the Associated Press.

Zellous and Sims each scored a game-high 17 points but they couldn’t help Pitt overcome a disastrous shooting day.

Pitt shot only 31 percent from the field and was only 1 of 5 on 3-pointers. Zellous and Sims combined to shoot 11 for 35, with Zellous making just six of her 22 shots.

The Panthers committed 18 turnovers and assisted just five baskets. The Blue Devils blocked 10 shots and tallied 12 steals.

Duke (No. 15 ESPN/USA Today/No. 17 AP) didn’t fare much better, only shooting 40.7 percent.

For much of the game, the Blue Devils didn’t look like one of the top programs in the country. Pitt’s defense forced Duke into 24 turnovers. The Panthers had eight team steals, with Sims collecting four.

The Blue Devils only made three of their nine free-throw attempts, and just four of 12 3-pointers.

Neither team could pull away once they took any leads. Pitt had a 24-18 lead with 6:20 left in the first half, but was held scoreless the rest of the half and the first three minutes of the second half.

Duke’s largest lead came with just over six minutes left in the second half at 47-40. The Panthers followed with their 9-2 run finalized by Sims’ layup.

Cheek led Duke (7-3) with 16 points, shooting 7 for 12 from the field. The sophomore forward pulled down six rebounds and snatched a pair of steals.

Center Chante Black added seven points for the Blue Devils. The 6-foot-5-inch Black swatted six shots, dished out four assists and hauled in four rebounds.

Black held Pitt’s star center, Marcedes Walker, to just nine points on 4-of-7 shooting. Walker grabbed a game-high 11 rebounds, six of which were offensive boards.

Pitt’s bench did not score one point. Starting win Xenia Stewart was out of the game with an injury.

The game was the opener of the Maggie Dixon Classic. Dixon was the younger sister of Pitt men’s coach Jamie Dixon, who died in April 2006 of arrhythmia.

This was the second year for the Maggie Dixon Classic. Last year, the tournament took place at West Point, where Dixon was the head coach of Army’s women’s basketball team. Dixon led Army to its first-ever NCAA Tournament berth the season before her death, her first as a head coach.

Rutgers topped Army in the second game of the doubleheader, 59-42. It was the first women’s basketball doubleheader at Madison Square Garden since 1981.

Pitt is now 0-2 against ranked opponents this season. Over Pitt’s winter break, the Panthers play five games. On Dec. 18, Pitt hosts Cal Poly at the Petersen Events Center. Four days later, Duquesne travels up the road to challenge Pitt. The Panthers travel to Staten Island for the Wagner Classic Dec. 29-30, with games against James Madison and Wagner.

Pitt beat James Madison in the first round of the 2007 NCAA Tournament earlier this year, 71-61. The Panthers open their Big East schedule on Jan. 6 at DePaul (6-0). As of Sunday, DePaul ranked 15th in the AP poll.