Pitt falls to Villanova, 63-47

With Villanova in town ranked No. 19 in the nation and in third place in the Big East… With Villanova in town ranked No. 19 in the nation and in third place in the Big East Conference, the Panthers’ women’s basketball team knew it had its hands full Tuesday evening.

At a poorly-attended Petersen Events Center, the small crowd of 574 gave no home court advantage to the Panthers. They did exactly what was expected of them, losing to the Villanova Wildcats, 63-47.

The Wildcats had a bit of an advantage over the Panthers and used that as a tool in their victory. They took advantage of their size over Pitt guard Amy Kunich and were able to dominate her up and down the court.

“I think they picked on Amy Kunich,” Pitt head coach Traci Waites said. “She’s small.”

Kunich held the responsibility of guarding Villanova’s star guard Trish Juhline for a large portion of the game. Juhline, who averaged 17.6 points per game going into last night’s game, knocked down 20 against Pitt.

“It just happened that I was guarding her,” Kunich said. “I should have held my ground a little better.”

Though Juhline finished with 20 points, she was completely shut down in the first half with only three points. In fact, all of Villanova was shut down. They didn’t get a lot of offense going in the first half.

The Panthers were cold also, with the exception of center Mandy Wittenmyer. Wittenmyer gave the Panthers the points they needed early, scoring their first six points and giving them a 6-5 lead over the Wildcats.

Pitt held the lead several times in the first half. It lead by as many as four after a Laine Selwyn steal and basket midway through the half to give the Panthers a 16-12 advantage.

Various lead changes occurred throughout the remainder of the half, and the Panthers went into the locker room only trailing by four, 26-22.

But the Wildcats got a burst of energy to start the second half. Juhline took over and gave the team what they were lacking in the first half.

In the first eight minutes of the second half, Villanova went on a 16-4 run and set the tone for the remainder of the game. They managed to produce a lead as many as 16.

Juhline scored 10 of those 16 points and could not be stopped as time moved on. She was too big for Kunich and too accurate for the Panthers to come any closer to a victory.

Sewlyn put an end to a scoring drought that lasted more than four minutes for the Panthers. They tried to build on her basket, as they trailed 40-24.

The lead was cut to eight with a layup basket by Pitt guard Jessica Allen to make the score 53-45. It never got any closer, however, and Pitt once again fell farther behind.

The lead continued to enlarge as the Panthers were unable to find the right rhythm. They shot only 34.7 percent from the field compared to a 45.8 percent shooting performance from the Wildcats.

Poor shooting by the Panthers and their inability to stop Villanova’s star guard provided them with yet another loss.

Pitt now falls to 10-11 overall and 2-8 in Big East play. It is currently riding a five-game losing streak and is only one game ahead of holding the last spot to get into the Big East Tournament.

The Panthers have six games remaining and will need to start winning in order to play in the postseason. They will travel to Rutgers on Sunday to try and pick up a third Big East victory.

“It’s really tough in this league,” Waites said. “I’m confident we’ll get another win. We just have to keep working hard.”