ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. -- Pitt's first opponent in the NCAA women's basketball tournament, Wyoming, played a deliberate and patient brand of basketball that took the Panthers out of their comfort zone.

Although they were able to defeat the Cowgirls, 63-58, the Panthers admitted it isn't much fun to play against teams that play that style.

That's why even though their next opponent -- Baylor, which finished second in the Big 12 and was ranked No. 12 in the final Associated Press poll -- is a more talented team than Wyoming, the Panthers are excited about the matchup. The Lady Bears play just like Pitt.

The two teams will face each other at 7 tonight at The Pit with a trip to the NCAA tournament's Sweet 16 on the line. Baylor (25-6) is the No. 3 seed in the Spokane Region, while Pitt is No. 6. The winner will advance to play next weekend in Spokane, Wash., against the winner of tonight's game between No. 2 seed Stanford (31-3) and No. 7 UTEP (28-3).

Baylor, like Pitt, is athletic and physical and uses a pressure defense to try to force a faster pace.

In other words, they are like most Big East teams and that means the Panthers will be able to play their game.

"We're really excited to play Baylor, we really respect them and the way they play," Pitt coach Angus Berenato said. "You look at them, they are similar to us in a lot of ways, they play a traditional outside-inside game, they want to push the ball like we do, maybe even more.

"You watch them and they rebound and run, so transition defense is important. But unlike a team like Wyoming, what you see is exactly what you are going to get.

---

Scouting report

• The matchups: No. 6 seed Pitt (23-10) vs. No. 3 seed Baylor (25-6), 7 p.m. today; No. 5 seed West Virginia (25-7) vs. No. 4 Vanderbilt (24-8). Both games at The Pit, Albuquerque, N.M.
  
  
• TV/Radio: ESPN2; Pitt game is on Fox Sports Radio 970.
  
  
• Pitt-Baylor: The Lady Bears finished second in the Big 12 and have been to the Sweet 16 or beyond three times in the past four years. They won the NCAA championship in 2005. ... Baylor head coach Kim Mulkey is the only current Division I coach to have won a national championship as a player (with Louisiana Tech), assistant coach (Lousiana Tech) and head coach (Baylor). ... Pitt defeated Baylor, 101-81, in the 1981 WNIT. That's the only meeting between the two schools.
  
  
• WVU-Vanderbilt: The two teams have met only once before, a 92-75 win by Vanderbilt in 1988. ... Both teams have played an opponent from the other's conference this year. West Virginia lost to Tennessee, 67-49, while Vanderbilt beat South Florida, 75-48. ... Vanderbilt's leading scorer is junior Christina Wirth (12.9 ppg).
  
  
• Hidden Stat: Neither Pitt nor West Virginia have ever advanced past the second round.
  
  

---

"Wyoming wanted to slow the game way down, and every possession they ran through that motion offense and you had to guard them. Sometimes you wouldn't know who was who and who was going to end up with the ball, and that wasn't fun. This game will come down to talented athletes making plays."

Pitt center Marcedes Walker said: "It is going to be just like a Big East game. I've watched Baylor a lot on TV and they will play real physical and that's how it is day in and day out in the Big East. So I am looking forward to it because they play our style of basketball."

Not surprisingly, the Lady Bears, like many teams, are a reflection of their coaches' personalities. Kim Mulkey was an intense, hard-nosed point guard who led Louisiana Tech to two national championships (AIAW in 1981, NCAA in 1982) and four Final Fours (three NCAA, one AIAW) in her career from 1980-84.

The Lady Techsters were also known for their up-tempo style of basketball and pressure defense, so it is no surprise that the transition game is a staple of the Lady Bears, who won the 2005 national championship.

The Lady Bears not only play fast and physical, like their coach, they are relentless and intense on both ends of the court.

Mulkey, like Berenato, is hoping that because the two teams are used to playing physical games in their conferences that they'll be assigned an officiating crew that allows them to play. She said the Panthers will present some matchup problems on the perimeter for the Lady Bears because their guards are tall and athletic but she expects the game to be played at a high level and at a fast pace.

"You come from our league where it is basically 'no blood, no foul' and then get to the tournament and games are officiated differently sometimes," Mulkey said. "We're used to physical play and then even the other night [in the Bears first round win against Fresno State], there were some calls where in the Big 12, they don't make those kinds of calls, they just let the players play."

Baylor's leading scorer is point guard Angela Tisdale (16.5 ppg), but she is also the team's emotional leader and a feisty defender who will pressure Pitt's guards relentlessly. She is small -- 5-feet-7 as opposed to Pitt point guard Mallorie Winn, who is 5-11 -- but she is quick and she plays strong so the Panthers will have their hands full.

Walker said Pitt will have to play its best defensive game of the season to stop the Lady Bears, and especially Tisdale. She added the outcome will likely depend on which teams plays with the most energy and intensity

"[Tisdale] is really quick," Walker said. "We're not sure who is going to stick her yet, but I know we better get back on defense on the transition game and stop the ball. And that is going to be a team effort, stopping the ball."