Is there a better freshman in the Big East than Pitt center Marcedes Walker?

“Absolutely… Is there a better freshman in the Big East than Pitt center Marcedes Walker?

“Absolutely not,” women’s basketball head coach Agnus Berenato said when asked following Saturday’s 63-47 win over Providence at the Petersen Events Center.

Walker has been putting up big numbers all season, and she added an exclamation point to her coach’s argument with her performance against the Friars. Her 23 points and 16 rebounds were both game highs. The double-double was her ninth of the season.

“Marcedes Walker,” Berenato said,” is single-handedly taking this team and maintaining the defensive anchor and offensive presence.”

Walker’s play under the hoop was crucial to the Panthers’ dominance of the Friars both on the court and in the box score. Pitt out-rebounded Providence 44-25, had 17 second-chance points to the Friar’s six, and 38 points in the paint compared to their 20.

The freshman from Philadelphia didn’t wait long to get started: 27 seconds into the game she grabbed an offensive rebound and put it back up for two. The basket gave the Panthers a lead they would never relinquish.

One minute, 38 seconds later, she displayed her defensive prowess with a blocked shot that echoed throughout the Pete.

Eight minutes into the game, Walker had already tallied nine points, a blocked shot and an assist. More importantly, her team, which had lost six straight, led 13-7.

Providence center Danielle Howard, also a freshman, had her hands full with Walker at both ends of the court. Howard finished with five points and three rebounds before fouling out with 6:33 remaining in the second half. Walker, who has at times found herself in foul trouble this season, didn’t pick up her third personal until there was 1:09 remaining, and at that point the game was well in hand.

“Many of you will look at [Marcedes’] numbers, and her numbers are tremendous,” Berenato said, “For a freshman, you can’t argue with 23 points, but it’s her rebounds. She had 16 rebounds, that’s amazing.”

Eight of Walker’s rebounds were of the offensive variety, a category in which she is tops in the Big East with 63 on the season, 4.8 per game. She also leads the Big East in total rebounds with 124, a 10.3 per game clip.

Walker shot 52.9 percent (nine for 17) from the field. Currently, she is second in the conference in field goal percentage shooting 49.6 on the season, behind Boston College’s Jessalyn Deveny, who makes 54.9 percent of her shots from the field.

“I think that I’ve been working hard in practice,” Walker said. “And coming in extra and just working and listening to my coaches and the staff when they say about being strong and taking it straight-up and playing hard.”

Berenato gives Walker, and all of her hard work, a lot of the credit for Pitt (12-12 overall, 4-9 Big East) breaking its slide before the conference tournament begins March 5.

“I thought that Marcedes Walker just played a great, great game,” Berenato said. “I felt she took the team on her shoulders today and she said to the team, ‘I got ya. I got your back both defensively and offensively.'”