Pitt Womens Basketball: Panthers stomp Penn State's Lady Lions
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The Pitt women's basketball team unveiled the "Sweet 16" banner that commemorated the Panthers' run in last year's NCAA tournament last night at the Petersen Events Center before their home opener against Penn State.
The Panthers then made a statement that last year's run wasn't a fluke as they pounded the Lady Lions, 80-59, in what was the most lopsided win by Pitt against Penn State in the history of the series. Pitt's previous largest margin of victory was 17 points (86-69) in 1983.
It was a bit of sweet revenge for the Panthers (2-1), who lost to the Lady Lions last year. It was also a sign that the balance of power in women's basketball in the state has shifted to the west -- this was the second time in three years Pitt has won.
"[Coach Agnus Berenato] was talking to us earlier about how much we love to hate Penn State," said Pitt sophomore forward Shayla Scott, a Gateway graduate who was recruited by both schools. "And that is just one thing we just do because we always hear about Penn State and how they bleed blue and white and all that other stuff. But it is great that we have won now two out of the last three years.
"People are always 'Penn State' this, and 'Penn State' that, so I am glad we can now say 'OK, Pitt this.' "
One thing that is still clear is that a game -- any game -- between Pitt and Penn State will always generate some extra excitement as the two rival schools have a long history of bitter feuds in football and men's basketball. However, the teams don't play in those two sports anymore, so fans of both schools had to get their only fix of Pitt-Penn State last night.
The rivalry is one reason the Oakland Zoo was filled with a rowdy crowd dressed in gold and sporting their Oakland Zoo shirts -- that group included a cavalcade of Pitt's brightest stars, including the entire men's basketball team, men's basketball coach Jamie Dixon, athletic director Steve Pederson and chancellor Mark Nordenberg. The trio gladly joined in when the students began their jumping routine during a Pitt possession.
In fact, one of the highlights late in the game was when Penn State's crowd began the "We Are, Penn State" routine and were loudly booed by the home crowd, who then began the "Let's Go Pitt" chant.
"Our crowd was amazing, especially the Zoo, which I thought was awesome," Berenato said. "[The appearance of Nordenberg and company], that just shows the sense of camaraderie and support we have here, a lot of our intensity. I thought we had great focus and intensity in the first half and that started with our seniors and our defense led us to our offense and our offense led to our defense."
Penn State (3-1) had some opportunities to keep the game close but came out shooting the ball poorly from the floor and the free-throw line and never really recovered. The Lady Lions made only two of their first 15 shots and missed seven of their first nine free-throw attempts. By the time they found their touch, the game had gotten away from them.
The Lady Lions are a young team in a bit of a rebuilding state. Dynamic second-year Penn State coach Coquese Washington said it was a good learning experience, given how difficult some of the road games are in the Big Ten Conference.
"I just think with the banner ceremony and [the Panthers] were hyped about coming back home and they were coming off a big win and they shot the ball very well," Washington said. "It was kind of like the perfect storm where they were doing everything right and we were struggling to make any shots and then the score got out of hand. I really think Pitt played tougher and played with a little more energy and tenacity than we did and that's something we can learn from.
"We won't shoot this poorly in every game."
One other highlight for Pitt was senior Xenia Stewart, who scored 17 points and became the 16th player in school history to score 1000 points. Pitt also got big nights from senior Shavonte Zellous (23 points), and freshman Pepper Wilson added 10 rebounds and four blocked shots. Tyra Grant had 20 points and seven rebounds to lead the Lady Lions.
First Published November 25, 2008 12:00 am
