Pitt improves first-half play

The Pitt women’s basketball team had an extra bounce in its step Wednesday night at the… The Pitt women’s basketball team had an extra bounce in its step Wednesday night at the Petersen Events Center against West Virginia.

They ran past the band, toward the locker room with smiles on their faces and their heads held high. Head coach Agnus Berenato strolled behind her players slapping high-fives with her assistants as she crossed over the Panther logo at mid-court. The Mountaineers, on the other hand, slowly walked into their own locker room with their heads hung low.

Unfortunately for the Panthers, it was only halftime.

“We were really intense,” Berenato said. “We feel when we go in ahead at halftime, we usually come out victorious, to be honest with you.”

Ultimately, the Panthers were not victorious and extended their losing streak to six games, but unlike the other loses, Pitt went into halftime in position to win last night. In their last five give games, the Panthers trailed by a combined 64 points at the half. Against the Mountaineers, they headed to the locker room with 28-22 lead.

It could have been more of the same for the Panthers. With 4 minutes and 55 seconds remaining in the half and the score tied at 17, Pittsburgh native and West Virginia player Meg Bulger delivered what could have been the knockout blow when she swished a 3-pointer from in front of the Panthers’ bench. This was the point at which the Panthers have collapsed in recent games, but instead they flexed their muscles and battled back.

With 4:26 remaining in the half Karlyle Lim drove from the top of the key straight toward the basket showing the determination that has been missing from the Panthers guards. Deep in the paint and surrounded by defenders, she dished a no-look pass to center Marcedes Walker, who put the ball up strong to bring the Panthers within one.

It was Walker, with the scored tied at 22, who turned a Vika Sholokhova miss into two points for the Panthers by grabbing an offensive rebound and laying it in with 2:05 remaining in the half. On Pitt’s next possession, Sholokhova fed Walker under the basket for another two points.

When time was running out in the half and West Virginia was trying to set up its offense, guard Katie Histed knocked the ball out of the Mountaineers’ hands. Fellow guard Amy Kunich picked up the loose ball and fed the ball back to Histed, who was streaking up court. Histed took the pass and put on the breaks, sending the West Virginia defender flying by. She then proceeded to lay the ball in and give the Panthers a six-point lead.

When the dust settled, Pitt headed into halftime riding the momentum of an 11-2 run.

“Our defense had created the offense,” Berenato said. “We were really excited about that.”

Pitt’s 32.3 percent field-goal shooting and 77.8 percent free-throw shooting, to go along with only six turnovers, were all improvements from the halftime numbers of the five previous loses.

The Panthers forced nine first-half turnovers, and held the Mountaineers to 29 percent shooting from the floor — again, improvements over the five losses.

If it is possible for a team that has lost five games in a row to walk with a swagger, Pitt did just that at the end of the first half of last night’s game.

Despite the loss, Pitt will have the chance to walk with that same swagger at the end of the second half on Saturday, as the Panthers will play host to the Big East’s cellar-dweller, Providence.