Women take cross-town contest from Duquesne

To the Pitt women’s basketball team, playing against city rival Duquesne Wednesday night at… To the Pitt women’s basketball team, playing against city rival Duquesne Wednesday night at the Petersen Events Center was personal.

“If we want to go ahead and make a statement and say we are an up-and-coming program,” head coach Agnus Berenato said, “we have to do it in our city.”

By winning 82-69 – their first win over the Dukes in six years – the Panthers made their statement.

“Duquesne is just one of the teams I felt like we had to beat this year,” guard Mallorie Winn said.

Winn did her part. She led Pitt with seven assists – without a turnover – while also scoring 11 points, pulling down six rebounds and blocking a shot.

“I felt like Mallorie did an exceptional job,” Berenato said. “She had the toughest defensive assignment, but then she also had the toughest offensive assignment because she ran this team.”

Early in the first half, Winn took over guarding Duquesne’s leading scorer on the season, Aiga Bautre. Bautre, who came in averaging 18 points per game, scored eight of the Duke’s first 11 points.

“She hit those two threes and [Xenia Stewart] was right there, so we felt like we had to put Mallorie on her,” Berenato said. “Mallorie is so long, her arms are deceivingly long and she always has them up. It’s very hard to score over that. I thought she did a great job.”

Bautre didn’t score again until she hit a jumper in the paint with 7:32 remaining in the second half to finish with 10 points. Junior Loui Hall led the Dukes with 19.

A back-and-forth first half saw Duquesne sophomore Jocelyn Taylor tie the score at 25 with five minutes remaining, but Winn had an answer at the other end.

Taking a pass from Shavonte Zellous, Winn sank a three from the top of the key to give Pitt a lead they would not relinquish.

The Panthers extended a 38-35 halftime lead to 15 points with 13:54 remaining in the game. Freshman guard Maddy Brown led the Panthers during the span, scoring 11 of her game-high 21 points.

With 17:15 remaining in the game, Brown took a pass from senior Cheron Taylor and knocked down a three from the corner. Following the basket, Duquesne head coach Dan Durkin called a timeout, but it did little to cool Brown’s hot hand.

On Pitt’s next possession Brown took a pass from Winn and hit another three pointer, and less than three minutes later, she hit yet another to make the score 58-43.

“We did say, she’s at home now, watch out for her,” Duquesne head coach Dan Durkin said. “She nailed some big threes and that hurt.”

Brown finished five of eight from beyond the arc.

“The pass makes the shot,” Berenato said. “If they kick it out with a good pass to the guard, it’s so much easier for the guard to shoot and score.”

“When you can have 20 assists and seven turnovers, a coach has to be happy,” she added.

The Panthers’ passing helped them shoot 50 percent from beyond the arc. Each of Pitt’s nine three pointers came with an assist.

And when the Panthers weren’t knocking down their shots, they were getting the rebounds. Pitt grabbed 19 offensive rebounds, which enabled them to get 24 second-chance points.

“I felt like we were outplayed in a lot of areas,” Durkin said. “Most importantly on the board was a major factor. They did a great job of using their strength. We don’t start our biggest lineup-I think they took advantage of that.”

Marcedes Walker grabbed a season-high 11 rebounds to go along with 19 points for her first double-double of the season. Freshman Xenia Stewart chipped in with seven rebounds.

Pitt now leads the all-time series 19-8. Durkin, who has been with the Dukes for 13 years, is the only Duquesne coach to ever beat the Panthers.

“I thought that we did not deserve to win tonight the way we played the second half,” Durkin said.

Pitt meets another rival Friday when they travel to Penn State to take on the Nittany Lions. Next Thursday, the Panthers open their Big East schedule against Syracuse at the Petersen Events Center.