The Panthers appeared to be a team desperate to return to the top-25 last night.

Despite… The Panthers appeared to be a team desperate to return to the top-25 last night.

Despite its recent fall from the rankings, Pitt (18-5, 6-4 Big East) looked poised and successfully employed its team-first approach to defeat Villanova, 66-53, in front of 1,908 fans at the Petersen Events Center.

“I thought the University of Pittsburgh team really played exceptional,” head coach Agnus Berenato said.

The youthful Wildcats (7-16, 1-9 Big East), who use seven freshmen or sophomores in their nine-player rotation, were unable to match the Panthers’ experience and depth.

The opening minutes of the game served as a shootout between Pitt’s Sylvie Tafen and Villanova’s Jackie Adamshick.

Tafen scored the game’s first points on a layup off an offensive rebound.

Adamshick, the lone senior starter for Villanova, responded two possessions later with a layup of her own to knot the score at two.

Xenia Stewart then passed to an open Tafen on the Panthers’ next possession for a 15-foot jumper from right of the key. Adamshick once again answered with her own jumper to even the score, 4-4.

Following a Shavonte Zellous layup to put Pitt ahead, Adamshick hit her first of three consecutive 3-point baskets. Tafen added another jumper after the first of Adamshick’s 3-point field goals, and Marcedes Walker connected on a short jumper following the second. But, Adamshick’s nine consecutive points gave Villanova a short-lived 13-10 advantage.

Pitt then shifted to a more team-concerted effort following the Wildcat run.

Every player who stepped on the court for Pitt finished with at least one basket before the end of the half as the Panthers put together 14 unanswered points following Adamshick’s series of 3-pointers.

Zellous led the attack, finishing with 13 first half points, and capped the period with a layup at the buzzer to send Pitt to the locker room with an overwhelming 40-25 lead.

The Panthers carried their momentum of the first half into the second as they returned for the final 20 minutes of play.

Stewart scored the first points of the second half on a jumper in the paint. Walker followed suit several possessions later to increase the Pitt lead to 44-25.

Villanova once again relied on one player for the majority of their scoring as Stacy Witman scored the Wildcats first five points of the half on two jumpers and a free throw.

Following Witman’s scoring burst, the Wildcats had crawled back to within 14 points, but Zellous responded with a jumper in the paint to increase the Panther lead to 46-30.

Zellous continued to pace the Panthers for the remainder of the second half as Pitt continued to build upon its lead. She scored 10 second half points to finish with a game-high 23 as Pitt cruised to the victory.

Walker contributed 14 points and 13 rebounds for her sixth double-double of the season and 5-foot-7 freshman guard Jania Sims added 10 rebounds and seven points.

Despite scoring Villanova’s first 13 points, Adamshick finished with only 15 total points on six-of-15 from the field.

In addition to a phenomenal team effort, another key to the Panthers’ success was their ball control. Pitt set a new school record by recording only three turnovers in the entire contest.

“Our goal was to attack,” Berenato said. “We were in the attack mode. We wanted to bring down [the ball] and run. When you bring down the ball and run, you have the tendency to turn the ball over or maybe make poor decisions, but I thought the team really handled itself exceptionally well.”

The Panthers will return to action on Saturday as they travel to South Florida for a rematch with the Bulls. The Panthers beat the Bulls at home earlier this season, and will look to pass USF in the Big East standings with a win. Pitt will return home Tuesday, Feb. 13 for a 7 p.m. matchup with Cincinnati.