Panthers to take on Irish

The Pitt and Notre Dame women’s basketball teams may have flip-flopped positions, but… The Pitt and Notre Dame women’s basketball teams may have flip-flopped positions, but somehow, the Panthers are still looking up at the Irish in the Big East standings.

Most projected a down year for the Irish and a breakout year for the Panthers, and, for the most part, the predications have rung true. Until last week, Pitt had enjoyed its first-ever national ranking for well over a month, bolting out to a 12-0 start. Notre Dame, meanwhile, limped out to a 5-3 start. Such a beginning isn’t necessarily a disappointment for most programs, but for Notre Dame, it is.

Despite the stark contrast in expectations, Notre Dame is still a game ahead of the Panthers in the conference standings. Both will look to end two-game losing streaks when the teams hook up tonight in the Petersen Events Center. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m.

Difficult road losses to No. 17 Louisville and unranked Seton Hall dropped the Panthers (15-5 overall, 3-4 Big East) out of the Associated Press rankings, a poll in which they were ranked 23rd for the past two weeks.

Pitt shot miserably in the Saturday loss to Seton Hall, hitting only 15 of its 52 shots for a woeful 28 percent shooting rate. Sophomore Shavonte Zellous, the Big East’s third-leading scorer, hit only two of her 16 shots from the floor. The Pirates took a 29-22 lead at the half and held on as Pitt just couldn’t recover from the slow start.

“That was a great game, but it was a tough way to end it,” head coach Agnus Berenato said afterward. “We played well in the second half, but the first eight minutes of the first half, we really missed some great shots. At one point, we were two-for-12.”

A buzzer-beater wouldn’t go, and the Panthers were on their second two-game slide of the season.

Notre Dame (13-7, 4-3), a traditional Big East power, also finds itself outside the national rankings, but the Irish are still very much alive in a competitive Big East conference. That’s saying a lot for a team that has already faced four ranked opponents, two residing inside the top 10. The Irish tipped No. 9 Purdue, 67-58, back in early December, starting a four-game winning streak. No. 4 Tennessee snapped that string, though, with a 78-54 win in Knoxville.

The Irish then won four of their next five Big East games, the lone loss coming in the middle to South Florida by an 87-78 score. Tough times followed that, though, as Notre Dame enters tonight’s game on a two-game slide, falling to nationally ranked Marquette (71-62) and Connecticut (64-57) in the last week.

It has been a difficult stretch for the Irish, who dropped back-to-back games for the first time all season, falling to 1-3 against ranked opponents in the process. Still, head coach Muffet McGraw is pleased where her team is at, given lowered expectations this season. The Irish are an experienced bunch, starting three juniors and two seniors, but the youth has been more prominent in recent games, giving McGraw reason for optimism.

“Our freshmen have come along quickly and are doing great things for us,” McGraw said after the loss to Connecticut. “It makes me excited about the future when I watch our team, because we came into this with little hope from people outside our locker room. I think we’re in great shape right now.”

The Irish certainly appear to be in good shape, boasting the kind of balance that is likely to give Pitt problems. Cheryl Allen leads the charge at 15.6 points per game, followed by Ashley Barlow (who hasn’t started a game all season) and her 10.4 clip. Tulyah D’Amico (9.9) and Melissa D’Amico (9.6) nearly average double figures for a Notre Dame team that has eight players averaging more than 20 minutes a game.

Pitt has some depth of its own, although it isn’t of the magnitude of Notre Dame’s. Eight Panthers average more than 10 minutes a game, with each starter putting in more than 21. Pitt also holds a slight rebounding edge over the Irish, pulling in 38.5 a contest to Notre Dame’s 36.