It's not just men's college basketball that is thriving around here. The women are piling up wins as if they were on sale.

There's an obvious reason Pitt, Robert Morris and Duquesne have done well -- good coaching hires.

Pitt, with Agnus Berenato, has 20 wins and is seeded fifth going into its Big East Conference tournament opener today against Villanova. Robert Morris, with Sal Buscaglia, has 20 wins and is seeded second going into its Northeast Conference tournament opener today against St. Francis, N.Y. Duquesne doesn't have as many wins, 15, and finished in a three-way tie for seventh in the Atlantic 10. The Dukes lost to Richmond, 58-56, yesterday in the A-10 tournament, but figure to go nowhere but up under Suzie McConnell Serio.

Throw in West Virginia, which has 23 wins going into its Big East tournament opener tomorrow against the winner of the Syracuse-South Florida game today, and you're looking at nearly 80 regular-season victories among the four area teams.

That leads to an important question.

So?

Even if those four teams start pocketing a lot more 20-win seasons, it will be interesting to see how far each can grow in the local sports landscape. Look how far off the map and how quickly Penn State fell after being a powerhouse for years. The Lady Lions won 13 games under first-year coach Coquese Washington and bowed out of the Big Ten tournament Thursday with a loss to Michigan.

It will be equally interesting to see how far college women's basketball can break onto the national scene in the next few years.

The women's Final Four is always sold out. This season ESPN is showing the entire tournament. Coaches' salaries aren't equal to the men's side, but they're rising.

That's not to say the gap is narrowing. It might even be growing, if you are of the notion that the men's game is gaining in popularity at a faster pace than the women's game.

There is an interesting statistic the St. Petersburg Times compiled in advance of the women's Final Four going to Tampa, Fla., next month.

The 333 Division I women's teams lost a collective $169 million in 2005-06, the most recent season available for financial reporting to the Department of Education.

Keep in mind that that is just a guideline. After all, 80 schools reported that they spent exactly as much as they took in, which would have to be tougher than getting 20 wins.

There are some elite programs that make money, so the losses among the rest could top $200 million.

Ask the local coaches about that, and they'll tell you it's a good thing.

"You have to spend money to make money. It is spending money to get that exposure. Every night, you turn on the TV and you can see a women's game," said McConnell Serio, a star at every level as a player and/or coach before she entered college coaching this season.

"With us, in our first year, there has definitely been a commitment. I haven't been said no to. If we need something, we find a way. That's the reason I'm here."

Beranato was shocked when she arrived at Pitt from Georgia Tech in 2003 to find the women's program living in the dark ages in some respects.

That's when a lot of schools, as Berenato remembers it, did things for women's basketball because they had to under Title IX and hoped for the best in terms of drawing fans and interest. She just thought those days ended long before 2003.

The first time it hit Berenato was when she learned Pitt didn't charge admission to women's games.

"I remember being despondent over that," she said. "I felt like I fought that battle years ago. Here we are, half-a-million-dollar budget, 15 scholarships, and we don't even charge. When I was in high school, we were really good and we charged and we sold out our gym.

"They told me, 'No, if we charge, no one will come.' I said, 'No, you have to put a value on your product.' "

Pitt now has three consecutive 20-win seasons, has its games broadcast on radio, is wooing corporate sponsors and, Berenato said, surpassed 2,000 in season tickets.

Robert Morris, a much smaller school than Pitt in the smaller NEC, will never sell 2,000 season tickets, but Buscaglia demands -- and gets -- a fair shake.

"My team is treated very well," he said. "Our president [Gregory Dell'Omo] says that athletics is the front porch of an institution. It's exposure. Who can put a value on that exposure?

"I think the sport is a long way from reaching its goal, but things are happening that would never have happened years ago."

Like investing so much money.

"We will never recover that $169 million," Berenato said.

But she's glad people had the guts to spend it on her sport.