Anyone who thinks the Pitt basketball season is over just isn't paying attention.

The men's team may have exited the NCAA tournament after the second round, but the women's squad (24-10) vaulted into the game's rarefied atmosphere Monday night with a 67-59 upset over Baylor. That sends coach Agnus Berenato and her team to the Sweet 16 for the first time ever.

Hail to Pitt, indeed.

Five years ago Ms. Berenato left Georgia Tech for the University of Pittsburgh, and last year she coached the Panthers to the NCAA tournament and a first-round victory. This time the team has higher aspirations.

Few expected the No. 6 seed Panthers to topple No. 3 seed Baylor, which was ranked 12th in the nation, made three trips in the last four years to the Sweet 16 and won the 2005 national title. But that's what you get for underestimating the Panthers.

Behind the furious play of seniors Marcedes Walker and Mallorie Winn and redshirt junior Shavonte Zellous, who together accounted for 48 of Pitt's 67 points Monday, Baylor didn't stand a chance. Now the Panthers will face No. 2 seed Stanford (32-3) on Saturday in Spokane, Wash.

Formidable? Yes. But not to a team with the character of Pitt.

There is no telling where the Panthers' run will end. Agnus Berenato, the Post-Gazette's Dapper Dan Charities Sportswoman of the Year, has taken her program very far very fast. She and her players are determined to win a national championship. To which we say, why not now?