Nov. 24, 2006

Box Score

EUGENE, ORE. - Behind a career-high 28 points from Shavonte Zellous, the Pitt women's basketball team (5-0) defeated Utah (1-3), 59-51, in the first round of the Duck Invitational Friday night to remain undefeated on the season.

"I really thought the key tonight was our defense," head coach Agnus Berenato said. "Offensively, we were out of synch. We knew Utah was an elite program and we played a little scared, but out defense played really, really well and kept us in the game.

"Shavonte has been playing very focused basketball. She was excited to play this game tonight and was not going to let us lose. Danielle Taylor, Ashleigh Braxton and Selena Nwude played really well tonight, giving us big minutes as well," Berenato said.

Zellous' (Orlando, Fla./Jones) 28 points just edged her former career-high of 27 points, which she scored Nov. 21 at St. Bonaventure. From the 12:21 mark in the second half, to the 2:07 mark, Zellous scored all 17 points for the Panthers, giving them the 48-42 lead.

Also scoring in double figures for the Panthers was junior center Marcedes Walker (Philadelphia, Pa./University City), who contributed 12 points on the night, playing 26 minutes.

Utah led most of the first half until Nwude (Riverdale, Md./Eleanor Roosevelt) hit a tip in under the basket with one second remaining in the period and put in the free throw on a Utah foul to give Pitt the three-point lead at 27-24 heading into the lockerroom.

In the second half, Utah again took the lead by as many as three, but the lead was brief as the Panthers gained momentum down the stretch. Pitt won the game at the free throw line hitting 21 of 24 from the charity stripe for 87.5 percent accuracy. The Utes shot just 64.7 percent from the line hitting 11 of 17.

Pitt led by as many as nine at 57-48 with 16 seconds remaining and went on to take the 59-51 victory. If Pitt can earn a victory in the second round of the tournament, facing the winner of Oregon vs. Boise State, it will match the best start by a Panther team in school history at 6-0, which was set in 2004-05.

Host school Oregon will play in the 10 p.m. EST game vs. Utah. Pitt will meet up with Boise State at 8 p.m. EST in the championship game after Boise State's 56-47 win over Oregon in the first round. Fans can listen to all Pitt games live on www.PittsburghPanthers.com All-Access as well as Fox Sports Radio 970 AM.