ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. -- It is well known that the Pitt women's basketball team is headed to the Sweet 16 for the first time in school history, but a less well-known fact is this: Agnus Berenato, in almost 30 years as a coach and player -- has never been this far, either.

So while it is an exciting time for the Panthers and the Pitt community, it is a far more emotional time for their coach because of the journey she has taken to reach this point in her fifth season at Pitt. The Panthers punched their ticket to Spokane, Wash., Monday with a 67-59 upset victory against 12th-ranked Baylor at The Pit in the second round of the NCAA tournament.

But don't think for a moment that just because the No. 6-seeded Panthers (24-10) and their coach are Sweet 16 rookies, they are going to the Spokane Region with the idea that just getting there is good enough. Their next challenge comes Saturday night against No. 2-seed Stanford, a perennial women's basketball powerhouse.

"I was very emotional after the game and even this morning, because it is just finally sinking in ...," Berenato said. "I talked to my team a little bit about the fact that some people, some great people and great coaches, go their entire careers and never get to experience a Sweet 16 or a Final Four or whatever, and so this is our time to seize this moment.

"And I think what is funny is that these kids, they are something special, because none of this really fazes them. They are all like 'OK, let's go play.' They don't really understand and appreciate the magnitude of it all yet because it is all new, and I think that is probably a good thing because to them it is just doing what they love to do -- going to play ball -- and they are just enjoying the ride."

The Panthers got a little taste of their newfound fame yesterday as they made preparations for their trip to Spokane: The Albuquerque newspaper had a photo from their game on the front page; USA Today had a photo of guard Mallorie Winn on its sports front; and the Pitt players found plenty of well-wishers and new fans around town -- from shuttle drivers to police officers and restaurant staff.

There also was a group of University of New Mexico fans -- easily identifiable because they were wearing red -- at the game Monday who were cheering loudly for the Panthers, including the school's staple chant of "P-I-T-T, let's go, Pitt."

In fact, at the team's brunch yesterday, the restaurant manager approached Berenato and told her: "I think what you guys did last night was wonderful. You have a lot of new fans here and you've become our new favorite team. Now go give 'em heck."

Berenato and Carol Sprague, the longtime Pitt senior associate athletic director and senior women's administrator affectionately known as "coach Chief" to the team because of her tireless efforts to help bring the program to where it is today, just looked at each other and smiled, as if to say, "These are the kinds of things that so many people have worked so hard to make happen."

"How neat it is to see in the USA Today on the front page a picture of Pitt," Berenato said. "It is so exciting for a kid like Mallorie, a senior who, when we recruited her, we were selling a vision but not much else, and it blows me away to think: 'That's Pitt in that picture, not Tennessee, not Connecticut, not LSU -- but Pitt,' and I can't put into words what that means, especially for those people like Carol who have worked so hard for so long.

"I want these players to enjoy this moment. I really want them to take it all in and just relax for a day or two because this is a very fun time in their lives. At the same time, we have a job to do and, after taking a day off and relaxing, we're going to get back after it and we're going to work hard."

Pitt's run is surprising considering how the team finished the season -- losing six of eight games -- but a closer look at the stretch probably offers a reasonable explanation.

For one thing, four of those six losses came against teamsranked higher than Pitt, and the other two came against Big East opponents on the road. More important, Pitt center Marcedes Walker had injured her ankle in the loss to Rutgers and never was healthy the rest of the way, even though she played every game.

But the Panthers got a week off between the end of the season and the start of the Big East Tournament, and that extra time helped Walker rest her ankle. She has been a much different player in the Panthers' five postseason games (three in the Big East tournament, two in the NCAA).

Walker made the Big East all-tournament team and scored 30 points and grabbed 15 rebounds in the Panthers' two NCAA tournament games, despite being saddled with foul trouble.

Another key has been Pitt's perimeter defense as Winn, Xenia Stewart, Shavonte Zellous and Sophronia Sallard made life miserable for Baylor's guards and did a good job of limiting Wyoming's 3-point shooters to an 8-for-27 performance. Sallard has also emerged as a threat offensively, and freshmen Shayla Scott, a Gateway graduate, Chelsea Cole and Taneisha Harrison have contributed, as well.

"You don't advance or get this far if you don't have a lot of good players who work hard and who play hard and who want to succeed," Berenato said. "And that's what we have here, and everyone has contributed something and they're hungry for more. I think once you get a taste of it, you just want more, and that's where we're at: We want more, we want this feeling to continue but we have a lot of work to make sure we give ourselves a chance to make it happen."