Panthers look for revenge in rematch

The Backyard Brawl is always an intense match-up, whether it is a football or basketball game…. The Backyard Brawl is always an intense match-up, whether it is a football or basketball game. However, when the Pitt women’s basketball team takes on West Virginia Saturday, it will not only be a brawl, but it will be the re-match of a game in Morgantown, W.Va. that had the word rivalry written all over it.

“I’m excited about our team. I like our team,” head coach Agnus Berenato said. “We are rising to the occasion and sticking with teams they we really shouldn’t be sticking with. This is a great opportunity for us to go out and compete.”

Four weeks ago, Pitt and West Virginia began the Big East Conference season with a classic game at the West Virginia Coliseum. The Panthers, playing without injured guard Amy Kunich, fell behind early 16-0, provoking Berenato to take out all of her starters.

Pitt came back to tie the game at halftime, 32-32. With five minutes left in the game, the score remained tied at 51. At that point the Mountaineers went on a 9-0 run and eventually won 65-58.

The Panthers had a hard time controlling the Bulger sisters in that game. Kate Bulger scored 28 points while her sister Meg had five points, two blocks and two steals.

“To me, [Kate Bulger] was the reason they won the game,” Berenato said. “I don’t know about the Backyard Brawl yet, but to me the [Bulger] sisters are like the backyard kids.”

West Virginia used that game as a momentum builder and now sits tied for second place in the Big East Conference at 14-5 overall, 5-2 conference. The Panthers, on the other hand, are coming off of a tough 83-72 loss to St. John’s on Saturday. Pitt is now tied for the 12th and final spot to make the Big East Tournament in March at 6-11, 2-5.

One major difference between the game four weeks ago and tomorrow’s game is the presence of Kunich, Pitt’s point guard. Kunich missed the game in Morgantown with a stress fracture in her foot.

With the team leader on the court Saturday, Berenato feels the team has a much better shot to beat the Mountaineers.

“I think [Kunich] will definitely help us because she knows the Bulger girls real well,” Berenato said. “She gives the team a sense of calm. When there is something that rattles [the team] I don’t have to call a timeout because [Kunich] tells them where to be.”

One bright spot for the Panthers this entire season has been the play of forward LaToya Kincaid. She had 25 points and 10 rebounds against St. John’s, and she had 11 points in the first meeting with West Virginia. Kincaid is averaging team highs that include 16.3 points per game and 7.9 rebounds per game.

“I didn’t expect this from LaToya at the beginning of the year,” Berenato said. “We really had no expectations for anyone. We didn’t know who was going to give us what at the beginning of the year, but we knew if we asked people to step up, they would.”

Pitt has set up a whole new game plan for Saturday’s showdown with West Virginia. The Panthers have had a whole week to prepare for this game, and Berenato gave the team two days off this week to rest up. Pitt has been using the half court trap to try to force turnovers and get easy layups, something that probably can be expected on Saturday.

“It was a great time to have a week off,” Berenato said. “We started working on a game plan [Thursday] and we will work on it [Friday], The whole key for us is that we aren’t capable of scoring that many points, but yet, we have to somehow devise and create ways to get easy baskets.”

Saturday’s Backyard Brawl begins at 2 p.m. at the Petersen Events Center where there will be a festival celebrating girls and women in sports history. The game will be broadcast live on 92.1 WPTS-FM.