Rutgers presses Pitt offense

The Panthers’ women’s basketball team traveled to Rutgers University Tuesday night to face a… The Panthers’ women’s basketball team traveled to Rutgers University Tuesday night to face a team carrying a momentum of historic proportions. Despite strong effort from beginning to end, Pitt was unable to avoid defeat, losing 68-41.

The Panthers are not alone. In the past two weeks, Rutgers has defeated three teams ranked among the top 10 in the country, including Louisiana State University, which was at the time ranked No. 1. Rutgers has jumped 20 places in the AP poll in a two-week span, moving from No. 24 to 4, a first in the poll’s 29-year history.

“They are probably the hottest team in women’s basketball right now,” head coach Agnus Berenato said.

Following a Vika Sholokhova jumper that gave the Panthers their only lead of the game at 4-2, the Scarlet Knights went on a 28-12 run led by freshman Matee Ajavon, who had a game-high 24 points coming off the bench. Ajavon shot two-for-three from 3-point land and an incredible 11-for-16 overall from the field.

“They shot [the] lights out,” Berenato said. “They just elevated. They just went up and scored on jump shots.”

The Panthers, who were down by as many as 14 points on two occasions in the first half, managed to keep the game close. After a layup by Allisha Morris with two seconds remaining in the half, Pitt trailed by only nine.

“For us to be able to go 25-34 at halftime was tremendous.” Berenato said.

Early in the second half, the Panthers narrowed the margin even more. Guard Katie Histed, who led the Panthers with 13 points, knocked down a 3-pointer one minute in to reduce the deficit to six, but that was as close as the Panthers would get.

Following Histed’s 3-pointer, Rutgers tightened its defense and ran away with the game. Using a full-court press that forced 26 Panther turnovers in the game, Rutgers went on a 24-2 run that put the score at 58-30 and left the Panthers reeling.

“They caused a lot of the turnovers we had,” Berenato said, “The turnovers we did create on our own were because we weren’t being aggressive. They had us back on our heels.”

Rutgers’ press, which was effective because of a combination of quickness and athleticism, put relentless pressure on the Panther guards — most notably, senior guard Amy Kunich. She played all 40 minutes and, for the most part, handled the pressure very well, according to her coach.

The Scarlet Knights continued to press deep into the second half, even with the game well in hand.

“Their press definitely caused us a lot of problems,” Berenato said. “We went over it, and over it [in practice], but it’s a lot different when you’re in a crowded gym.”

The Scarlet Knights’ defensive pressure held the Panthers to only 16 points and 18 percent shooting in the second half. Despite the numbers, Berenato liked a lot of what she saw.

“I thought there were tremendous positives,” she said. “I saw our kids do things they didn’t do two weeks ago. I thought Jen Brown was really aggressive; she is only a sophomore, but she did a tremendous job. Our defense was pretty good too. I was encouraged, very encouraged.”

It would have been easy for many teams to quit, but the Panthers did not.

“I can honestly say up until the last second of the game, we had people diving on the floor for balls,” Berenato said. “Their effort was terrific, and that’s where you’re going to learn.”

The Panthers dropped to 0-11 all time at Rutgers and are just 2-18 overall against the Scarlet Knights. Pitt will take on Syracuse this Sunday at noon at the Petersen Events Center.