Pitt looking to follow Notre Dame’s mold

As head coach of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish, Muffet McGraw has led her team to 20 wins in… As head coach of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish, Muffet McGraw has led her team to 20 wins in 16 of her 18 years at the helm. The Irish have won 20 games in 12 straight seasons and are undefeated all-time in 15 games against the Pitt Panthers, all under McGraw’s watchful eye. Each year, her team competes for the Big East title, brings in top recruiting classes and is nationally ranked.

Agnus Berenato, in just her second year as coach of the Panthers, has watched her team lose six of their last seven home games. The Panthers have dropped to the near bottom of the Big East standings, and members of Berenato’s first recruiting class shot a combined eight of 26 in the Panthers’ 75-47 loss to the Irish Saturday afternoon.

Needless to say, the Panthers and Irish are in different places, but Berenato is using what McGraw has done in Indiana as a blueprint for what she wants to do in Pittsburgh.

“I remember it really well when Muff took over,” Berenato said Saturday, following the loss. “She has done a great job with the program and getting good players.”

McGraw has led the Irish in each of the 15 all-time wins against the Panthers and says that already Berenato has made improvements.

“They are a much better team than they were last year,” she said. “Marcedes [Walker] is a tough matchup for any team, and we couldn’t handle her one on one. She still played well even after getting in foul trouble.”

While Notre Dame may be the cream of the crop in women’s basketball, Berenato said getting to the top will take time, but it won’t take a change in philosophy.

“I’m not worried about getting into the upper echelon,” Berenato said. “What it will take [to get there] is what we are doing. You have to teach technique and then worry about wins later.”

Starting with their late January meeting with defending national champion Connecticut, the Panthers have played four of the top teams in the Big East, and the results have all been the same: losses. The Huskies, Boston College, Villanova and Notre Dame have beaten the Panthers by a combined total of 102 points, but the Panthers hung tough for about 15 minutes in each contest.

Senior guard Amy Kunich will leave the Panthers after this season, but she said Berenato has done such a good job of implanting the idea in her players that sooner or later, Pitt will be at the top.

“She has stressed that to us, I can’t say how many times,” Kunich said. “We know anyone can work hard. We look at [Notre Dame,] and they may be more athletic than us, but we have heart.”

When pressed about what it will take to get the Panthers to that next level, Berenato didn’t hesitate with a one word answer.

“Recruiting. Players breed other players,” she said. “Pittsburgh is giving players reasons to come to Pittsburgh.”