The Lady Panthers’ Big East Conference opener was a nail-biter throughout the first half, but… The Lady Panthers’ Big East Conference opener was a nail-biter throughout the first half, but when the chips were down, Syracuse handed Pitt its second conference loss of the season.

After Jessica Allen’s three-pointer early in the second half, the Lady Panthers found themselves trailing by only a single point, but it was all downhill from there.

Syracuse went on a few scoring runs to win 71-51.

Syracuse guard Julie McBride led all players in scoring with 24 points. Head coach Agnus Berenato believes that rebounding kept Pitt in the game, but turnovers proved to be the pitfall.

“We outrebounded them by 10,” she said. “That’s what kept us in the game. We outrebounded them, but what kept us from being in the lead was our turnovers. We had 12 turnovers.”

After shooting 62.5 percent from three-point range in the first half, the Lady Panthers were a dismal 20 percent in the second. LaToya Kincaid led all Pitt players in scoring with nine points.

Berenato stressed the fact that the team is greatly disadvantaged without point guard Amy Kunich in the lineup. Kunich has been sidelined with a foot injury and is not expected to be able to return to action for quite some time.

“It’s a minimum four-to-six-week injury,” Berenato said. “Even when she comes back, it will take another two weeks for her to just be able to [bear weight]. I’m thinking another month.”

While last night’s loss was disappointing, Berenato still has confidence that her team will be able to bounce back. She always expects to get the most out of her players, and believes that a Big East Tournament berth is within reach.

“Our goal is to get to the tournament,” Berenato said. “I think, probably, if you would have asked me at the beginning of the season, my goals would have been to win a game, because I didn’t think we’d win a game. And that’s not being negative, that’s just being realistic. And I’m very realistic. But we’ve won some games now, so now I’m going to get greedy. And now my goal is to get to the Big East Tournament.”

“But Syracuse and Pitt, we’re at the bottom. And we’ve got to beat somebody. So we’ve got Providence on Saturday. It’s a new day, and we just go right back at it. It doesn’t get any easier.”

John and Gertrude Petersen, along with President of the Alumni Association Eva Bloom, joined Berenato on the bench as honorary coaches. Although Berenato had hoped for a better outcome, she was honored to have the trio join her on the bench.

“I’m embarrassed now, because we lost by 20 points,” Berenato said. “But to be honest with you, it was all inspiring for me. I don’t think they realize how people look at them, and the respect that they command. I know that my team was really excited to have them, as well as Eva Bloom, on the bench. And again, I think it’s my job to bring [the team] great role models and to show them where a degree can get them.”

Berenato feels that the team is suffering from lack of confidence. She said the team is a lot better than it thinks, and as soon as the players realize it and stop focusing on the mistakes, that is when the wins will come.

The Lady Panthers will be back in action this Saturday when they play host to Providence. Tip-off is scheduled for 2 p.m.