Women earn spot in Big East Tourney, fall to Irish

Spring break proved to be a week of ups and downs for the Pitt women’s basketball team.

The… Spring break proved to be a week of ups and downs for the Pitt women’s basketball team.

The Panthers began the week by losing their third straight game at Syracuse, only to bounce back and earn one of the biggest victories of Traci Waites’ coaching tenure with a Wednesday home victory over Seton Hall. The victory qualified Pitt for its first Big East Tournament appearance in three years, but a first round loss to Notre Dame in Piscataway, N. J., ended Pitt’s hopes of making a run at the NCAA Tournament.

Syracuse 71, Pitt 61

Laine Selwyn scored a season-high 27 points, and Haley Harguth narrowly missed a double double in her first start of the season, but Pitt dropped its sixth contest in seven games with a 71-61 defeat at Syracuse March 1.

The Panthers (11-15 overall, 3-12 Big East) could have clinched a Big East Tournament berth with the victory. Instead, the Orangewomen (10-16, 5-10) earned a season sweep over the Panthers despite shooting only 40.6 percent from the field and turning the ball over 19 times.

Selwyn went eight-of-14 from the field, including two-for-two from three-point land, and nine-of-11 from the charity stripe to lead all scorers. The senior forward also added six rebounds, three assists and four steals to her point total.

Harguth scored 16 points and added nine rebounds, but the Panthers were outrebounded as a team, 41-34. Jessica Allen added six points in 14 minutes of play off the bench for the Panthers, and Pitt guard Amy Kunich notched six assists.

Forward April Jean led the way for the Orangewomen, scoring 20 points on eight-of-14 shooting and grabbing six boards. Syracuse guard Shannon Perry played a solid 40 minutes, earning a double double with 14 points and 10 boards. Guard Julie McBride scored 18 points and set up her Syracuse teammates with seven assists, but she also turned the ball over nine times.

Pitt needed a March 4 victory at the Petersen Events Center over Seton Hall and a Providence loss to No. 17 Villanova the same night in order to qualify for the Big East Tournament.

Pitt 57, Seton Hall 54

Pitt shot 40 percent from three-point land. Three Panthers scored in double figures as Pitt defeated Seton Hall 57-54, qualifying for the Big East Tournament for the first time in three years.

After being named the Marty Glickman Outstanding Jewish Scholastic Athlete of the Year earlier in the day, Selwyn led the Panthers with 13 points, six assists and four steals playing at her guard position. Brooke Stewart went four-of-five from the floor and one-of-two from beyond the arc to score 12 points, and Allen scored 10 points off the bench.

Forward Cecilia Lindqvist led the Pirates in scoring with 17 points. Charlene Thomas led the Pirates in rebounding with 12 boards, and Ashley Bush and Leslie Ardon grabbed 10 and 11 rebounds, respectively. As a team, Seton Hall outrebounded the Panthers 45-30, but Pitt forced 19 turnovers while turning the ball over only 12 times.

With the win, the Panthers improved to 12-15 overall and 4-12 in the Big East, and secured a No. 11 seed in the Big East Tournament. The Panthers would face No. 6 seed Notre Dame on Saturday night at Rutgers University.

Notre Dame 73, Pitt 65

With Wednesday’s win over Seton Hall, the Pitt women’s basketball team added some madness to its March.

Unfortunately for the Panthers, the Fighting Irish of Notre Dame had no intention of making an early exit from the Big East Tournament.

Notre Dame outshot Pitt 51 percent to 34.5 percent, and outrebounded the Panthers 40 to 25 to eliminate Pitt from the Big East Tournament with a 73-65 win.

Pitt has never defeated Notre Dame in women’s basketball.

Forward Mandy Wittenmyer led the Panthers with 19 points and added two rebounds. Selwyn scored 17 points, grabbed eight rebounds, notched five assists and stole the ball five times to complete a collegiate career that saw her break or tie three school records. Stewart scored 10 points, grabbed four boards and earned three steals in the loss.

Forward Jacqueline Batteast earned a double double for the Irish with 15 points and 10 rebounds. Courtney LaVere led all scorers with 18 points, and guard Alicia Ratay sank 10 free throws to add 16 points for Notre Dame. Forward Katy Flecky rounded out the double-digit scorers for the Irish with 14 points.

The Panthers ended the season with a 12-16 overall record, improving on their 8-19 mark in the 2001-2002 season.