Pitt jumps out to huge lead, holds off Orange in Big East opener

With only a day to prepare for Thursday night’s Big East opener against Syracuse, Pitt women’s… With only a day to prepare for Thursday night’s Big East opener against Syracuse, Pitt women’s basketball coach Agnus Berenato just wanted to give her players, who dispatched Robert Morris late Tuesday night, some rest.

But that didn’t mean the team wasn’t working on things.

“We had an intense video session. Two hours,” she said after her team defeated the Orange, 67-55. “We learned a lot from that video session and I think that’s important to be able to do. These girls needed to rest.”

One of Berenato’s standout players, Marcedes Walker, talked about the video as well. The sophomore said she thought she played hard throughout the Panthers’ 66-36 win over the Colonials Tuesday, but when she saw the video, she said she “didn’t see that.”

It didn’t take long for her to correct that.

Walker came a rebound shy of a double-double, scoring 16 points to go along with her nine boards as Pitt jumped on the Orange early, raced to a 20-point halftime lead and then held off a late Syracuse tally to win its Big East opener. Walker led a Panther frontcourt that out-rebounded Syracuse 51-30. The unit grabbed 17 offensive rebounds and poured in 16 second-chance points.

While Walker controlled the inside, point guard Mallorie Winn turned in a solid game of her own. The junior led the Panthers with 17 points, four rebounds and four assists, giving balance to a Pitt attack that kept the Orange defense on its heels all night.

“I feel like Mallorie and Marcedes really complimented each other,” Berenato said. “I think they really stepped up to the plate and set the tone, with Mallorie going into Marcedes and Marcedes really knowing whether it was a double-team, a triple-team or single coverage. I feel like we really had a great game plan.”

“Pitt came out and really established control of the game,” Syracuse coach Keith Cieplicki said, referring to the Panthers’ 6-0 spurt to open the contest. “Once that happened early, it was pretty much an uphill battle for us all night.”

It was also an uphill battle for Syracuse’s leading scorer, Vaida Sipaviciute, who finished with 22 points, but the majority coming in the late stages of the game. Berenato commended her scout team for the team’s control of Sipaviciute, saying the team helped expose the center’s tendencies, leading to several Pitt stops.

The Panthers used the containment of Sipaviciute, who hit only one of six shots in the first half and totaled just four points in that frame, to build a big lead. Walker and Winn combined for 25 points in the first half, two more than the Orange mustered, as the Panthers shot 54 percent in the opening frame, getting a 43-23 lead to show for it.

“I thought the first half of this game was, without a doubt, the most intense of any team that we’ve had since I came to Pitt,” head coach Agnus Berenato said after the game.

“The first half was very exciting,” Winn said. “I felt like everyone had energy, everyone was really excited to be playing in the first Big East game.”

The second half, however, was a different story.

Pitt shot only 27 percent from the floor, missing all four of its 3-point attempts, in failing to put away the Orange. A jumper from the foul line by sophomore Karlyle Lim gave the Panthers their largest lead of the game at 61-37 with 8:27 left. Berenato’s team, however, made only three field goals the rest of the way and let Syracuse (4-3, 0-1) climb to within striking distance.

After Lim’s jumper, the Orange rattled off 10 straight points, six of them coming on free throws. Cheron Taylor ended the run with a layup, but Sipaviciute scored Syracuse’s next six points to trim the deficit to 65-53. There simply wasn’t enough time, though, as the Orange came no closer than 10 the rest of the way.

“I was disappointed in the second half,” Berenato said. “I felt that we really lost our intensity, and that happens when you have a young team. The first half they ran the game plan perfectly. The second half they forgot the game plan.”

Still, she wasn’t about to belittle a win, especially a conference win over a team that the Panthers could only split with in two meetings last year. Her team is now off until a road trip to California this weekend for matchups with Pepperdine and San Diego State.

“I’m really excited right now,” Berenato said. “We’re 7-2, getting ready to go out to California.”