Women’s hoops tussles with No. 3 Terps

Pitt women’s basketball coach Agnus Berenato had plenty to be thankful for this… Pitt women’s basketball coach Agnus Berenato had plenty to be thankful for this Thanksgiving.

She certainly was thankful for having some time to spend with her family over the weekend. A commanding 82-31 victory for her team over Mount St. Mary’s on Tuesday was another reason to give thanks.

But the Panthers can’t afford a Thanksgiving hangover tonight when they travel to College Park, Md., in a showdown with the No. 3 Maryland Terrapins.

Pitt (3-1) has strengthened its non-conference schedule this year, with two battles against nationally ranked ACC opponents. Pitt also plays No. 8 Duke on Dec. 8 at Madison Square Garden in New York.

The Terrapins may pose the most daunting challenge for Pitt the entire season. Only eight games into the year Maryland has already beaten two other top-10 schools in LSU and Oklahoma.

“We have our work cut out for us against Maryland,” Berenato said. “But we’ve been working very hard. We know their personnel really well.”

Maryland has high hopes of not only an ACC title but another national championship as well. The Terrapins won the crown two years ago.

A preseason poll among five ESPN experts all chose Maryland to win the stacked ACC, which also contains top-10 programs like Duke and North Carolina.

“They won the national championship with these same kids a couple years ago,” Berenato said. “They say when one door shuts, another door opens.”

Maryland features two preseason All-Americans in forward Crystal Langhorne and guard Marissa Coleman, with help from Kristi Toliver.

Langhorne is not expected to play on Tuesday because of a sprained ankle. Regardless, the Terrapins have firepower on all fronts that Pitt must be aware of.

“You can get caught up with all the All-American talk, but at the end of the day it’s still five-on-five,” Berenato said.

Although without a unanimous All-American itself, Pitt has quite a cast performing at a high level thus far this season.

Center Marcedes Walker is averaging 14 points and7.5 rebounds per game through four games. Guard Shavonte Zellous has 14.8 points a game and 5.2 rebounds a game, although coming off the bench in the last game.

Pitt also has received a boost from redshirt senior guard Mallorie Winn, who was forced to sit out all of last year with a knee injury.

She’s averaged 10.8 points per game thus far.

The 7 p.m. contest with Maryland can be listened to on pittsburghpanthers.com or on the radio at 970 AM.

Pitt 82, Mount St. Mary’s 31

The Panthers easily dispatched of Berenato’s alma mater last Tuesday, coasting to an 82-31 smackdown in Emmitsburg, Md.

Walker and Zellous paced Pitt to victory with outstanding performances.

Walker accumulated 19 points and 11 rebounds for her 39th career double-double and added four blocks, while Zellous came off the bench for the first time this season to add 20 points in only 18 minutes.

Mount St. Mary’s’ 31 points were the fewest scored against Pitt since Fairmont State only managed 29 back in 1981. The Panthers defense held the Mountaineers to 15 points in the first half and 16 in the second half.

“We were really pleased with the defensive effort of the team,” Berenato said. “This shows a little bit of a sign of maturity.”

Every Panther played in the rout, with four finishing in double figures. Xenia Stewart added 11 points and freshman guard Shayla Scott netted 10.

Pitt jumped ahead of the Mountaineers quickly, racing to an 8-0 advantage before Mount St. Mary’s got on the board. When Zellous came off the bench, the Panthers really erupted, with Zellous notching 10 points in three minutes to put Pitt up 26-10.

Pitt had two huge runs in the second half as well to put the game away. A 16-6 run to start the half and a later 24-0 breakout silenced the Mountaineers for good.

Two other freshmen had strong performances in the game.

Chelsea Cole tallied six points and 11 rebounds and Taneisha Harrison added nine points on 4 of 9 shooting. Cole now is averaging 5.2 rebounds a game on the season.

Berenato praised Zellous’ performance after a few disappointing games in her mind.

“We want her to really attack the basket,” Berenato said. “[Her coming off the bench] gave the team a great spark.”