Panthers’ offensive woes lead to WVU win

There has been some talk that the Pitt women’s basketball team was close to being… There has been some talk that the Pitt women’s basketball team was close to being competitive in the Big East conference. Saturday was a reminder of how far they still must go.

The West Virginia Mountaineers came into Pittsburgh with a record of 14-5 overall, 5-2 in the Big East conference, and the Panthers had hopes of an upset. In the previous matchup, the Panthers lost, 65-58, and were without starting point guard Amy Kunich.

Kunich would make a difference, and the Panthers had a shot, right? Not even close.

The Mountaineers came out and dominated from the start, opening up a 10-point lead in just under 10 minutes. West Virginia’s fast break completely shredded the Panthers defense, thanks to point guard Yolanda Paige.

“West Virginia is third in the conference for a reason,” said Panthers head coach Agnus Berenato. “Paige does a great job of penetrating and running their offense.”

“We prepared for [Pitt’s defense], and I was pretty much ready for it,” said Paige after the game.

Paige was more than prepared; she put on a clinic of how to run an efficient fast break.

“Paige is one of the top point guards in the country; she is very good,” West Virginia head coach Mike Carey said. “She leads the Big East in assists, is second in the country and plays 40 minutes every game. She always has the ball and finds the open person.”

Time after time, following a Panthers miss or turnover, Paige, who had 11 assists, would receive an outlet pass and push the ball down the floor. Paige almost always hit a wide-open Mountaineer and it seemed to always result in points.

The Panthers did what they could to slow Paige and the West Virginia offense, and they were successful in the half-court but not the fast break. Thanks to a tough, physical defense, the Mountaineers forced 17 Pitt turnovers and made 10 steals, all of which set up the Mountaineers fast break.

“Our defense was great,” Carey said. “We get several easy chances on the other side because of it.”

“West Virginia was just bigger, faster, stronger and quicker — that’s it,” said Berenato. The Panthers did what they could to slow the break, even having all three of their point guards — Stacy Moore, Brooke Hughes and Kunich — attempt to slow down Paige.

The Panther offense did not give Pitt much help, though. The Panthers’ poor shooting set up the easy chances the Mountaineers continually had. Pitt was just 14-of-52 from the floor and shooting 26.9 percent for the game.

“We did a good job on defense, holding them to 56 points,” Berenato said. “They average in the 70s, so we did a good job.”

No matter who the Panthers had on the court, the cork refused to leave the Panthers rim.

“We had great looks the whole game; we just missed the shots,” Berenato said. “This is the first time I have ever had a team only make 14 baskets in my [coaching] career.”

An inability to stop a fast break and some shooting woes is recipe for disaster, and the result on Saturday proved that.