Panthers finish season with 12th straight loss

The Pitt women’s basketball team will have to wait until next season to end its losing… The Pitt women’s basketball team will have to wait until next season to end its losing streak, which the Panthers extended to 12 games after their loss to Villanova last night, 56-45.

Forward Cheron Taylor came off the bench to lead Pitt with 10 points and five rebounds, while senior guard Stacy Moore — playing in her final game as a Panther — added eight points and five rebounds. Kelly Nash led all scorers with 14 points, including four-of-nine shooting from behind the three-point line.

Also playing in their final games at Pitt were forwards Sheila Stufflet and LaToya Kincaid. Both players scored four points each, and Kincaid grabbed four rebounds for the Panthers.

Pitt ends the year with a 6-20 overall record (2-14 Big East), while No. 23 Villanova improved to 22-5 (12-4) and will prepare for the Big East Tournament.

“You know, the wins didn’t come,” head coach Agnus Berenato said. “But I’ll be honest, we got more wins than I thought [we’d get].”

The Panthers kept the score close throughout most of the game, but the Wildcats pulled away when guard Kelly Nash hit her fourth three-pointer of the game. The shot gave Villanova a 10-point lead, 50-40 with 5:31 remaining.

The Panthers found themselves in a hole early after Villanova went on a 10-2 run, giving them an 18-8 lead.

Two consecutive layups got Pitt back into the game.

The first layup came when Moore drove into the lane and laid the ball high off the glass. Freshman guard Brooke Hughes scored the second, in a play similar to Moore’s. Hughes drove through the paint and put the ball in off the glass to make the score 18-12.

After Villanova stretched the lead back to eight points, sophomore forward Cheron Taylor drove and hit a layup, while being fouled. After Taylor converted on the three-point play, Wildcat forward Jackie Adamshick scored on a layup to give Villanova a 23-16 lead.

The Wildcats regained possession on a miss by Pitt guard Amy Kunich, but before they could move the ball downcourt, Hughes swept in and stole the ball back. She tossed it to Kunich, who quickly passed it back. Hughes stood alone in the corner, lined up the three-point shot, and sent it through the basket to make the score 23-19.

Hughes would later help the Panthers get within two points when she dished the ball to forward Jennifer Brown. Brown backed her way into the paint, spun, and hit the jump shot.

After the Wildcats extended the lead to four again, Moore controlled the ball and drove, spun around a defender, and hit a jumper.

However, Villanova would score again to make the Wildcat halftime lead 29-25.

Stufflet started the second half by connecting on a jump shot, and again, Pitt had cut the Wildcat lead to two points.

But that would be as close as Pitt would get, as Villanova’s slow-moving offense went on a run to end the game.

The Wildcats used an offensive scheme where they use as much time on the clock as they can before attempting a shot. Since there is no 10-second rule for women’s collegiate basketball, Villanova sometimes took more than 10 seconds to cross the center-court line.

“We didn’t care that they were passing the ball back and forth,” Berenato said, adding that it did not frustrate her because, if the Wildcats were continually passing, they were not scoring.

Berenato was also pleased with many of the final stats. She felt her team did a great job in the turnover department, giving the ball up only 12 times, and she was proud that the Panthers held Villanova to a low shooting percentage — 43.5 percent.

“I thought we were very disciplined tonight,” Berenato said. “I just want to thank our seniors for making the year really a joy.”