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Women's Hoops Hits The Road
Women's Hoops Hits The Road 1/28/2000
Pittsburgh (12-6, 3-4 Big East) vs. Boston College (16-4, 5-1 Big East)
All-Time Series Pittsburgh and Boston College faced off twice last season with the Eagles winning both contests. The first was an 86-65 win at Fitzgerald Feb. 13. The two teams met just 10 days later in the regular-season finale. Pittsburgh led with just under five minutes to go, but ultimately fell, 72-66, to the Eagles. The Panthers' last victory in the series was during the 1995-96 season, a 72-69 decision on their home court. Pittsburgh's largest margin of victory is 19 points, achieved during the 1993-94 season, while their largest margin of defeat was 36 points in 1986-87.
Pittsburgh Head Coach This season, Waites has guided the Panthers to their second-best start ever and best in six year with an 11-3 record. During her debut last season, Waites sent the Panthers on a dramatic 4-0 run to start the year, a feat that had not been accomplished since the 1982-83 season. She additionally led Pittsburgh to eight victories on the year, marking two more than it achieved in all of the prior season. Waites joined the Panthers after serving four seasons at the University of Arizona as an assistant coach, including the last two as associate head coach. While there, Waites was instrumental in the Wildcats' emergence as a Top 10 program, helping them to three straight 20-win seasons and two NCAA Tournament berths. Prior to Arizona, Waites was the head coach at Santa Monica Community College in Santa Monica, Calif., from 1993-94 after serving the program as an assistant for three years. During her tenure, Waites' teams finished second in the Western States Conference and qualified for the state playoffs each year. Waites enjoyed an outstanding collegiate playing career, first at Georgia and then at Long Beach State. She played in the NCAA Tournament each of her four seasons and went to two Final Fours. She holds the distinction of being the only player to appear in the Final Four for two different teams.
Boston College Head Coach Inglese led the Eagles to their most successful season in school history last year with a 22-8 record which highlighted a win over then-No. 2 Connecticut. The season culminated as Inglese earned Big East Coach of the Year honors and her squad made its first-ever berth in the NCAA Tournament. Prior to Boston College, Inglese served seven seasons from 1986-93 at Vermont. While there, Inglese compiled a 120-74 overall record and led her team to the NCAA Tournament twice. Additionally, her teams recorded back-to-back regular-season undefeated records in 1991-92 and 1992-93. A 1980 graduate of Southern Connecticut State, Inglese also served one season as an assistant at New Hampshire.
Sinking Shots The contest marked only the second time this season the Panthers have shot 50 percent or better both overall and from 3- point range. Against the Orangewomen, Pittsburgh was 50.9 percent (29-of-57) from the field, and 50.0 (7-of-14) percent on 3- point shots. Pittsburgh also shot 50 percent from both areas against St. John's Jan. 5. The Panthers also put up a strong performance from the free-throw line. Pittsburgh, who is making only 62.6 percent of its shots for the season, was 15-of-21 from the charity stripe (71.4 percent).
Taking Care of the Rock Prior to the contest with Notre Dame, Pittsburgh was averaging just over 23 turnovers a game. The Panthers have drastically improved that as they averaged only 13.5 in the last two contests. They had a season-low 12 turnovers against Syracuse and 15 versus the No. 5 Fighting Irish.
Dishing it Out
Batting them Away Senior Nickeia Morris is leading the way with her 43 blocks this year. She has recorded five blocks in two games - Lafayette and Campbell. Morris is tied for second in the conference with 2.53 per game and is 10th nationally.
Depth Perception
Panther Points For the season, Pittsburgh is averaging 66.2 points, while it is allowing 62.6. The Panthers' highest scoring output was 86 points against Hampton on Dec. 12. Their second-largest was an 80-point effort in the season-opener versus Lafayette and also versus Syracuse.
Bouncing Back
Shutting them Down with a Little "D" Pittsburgh has been very strong when it comes to defending its opponents shots. The Panthers have only allowed two opponents to shoot above 45 percent so far - top-ranked Connecticut (54.4 percent) and Syracuse (51.0 percent). Number-five Notre Dame was the only other team to come close with its 44.1 percent shooting. The lowest an opponent has shot was Campbell with 27.9 percent. In games against unranked teams, the Panthers are limiting its opponents to 36.1 percent shooting from the field.
Superb Start The Panthers' start is their best since the 1993-94 season. That year, Pittsburgh finished 21-10 overall and went to the National Women's Invitational Tournament (NWIT). Pittsburgh's best start ever was a 13-2 record, achieved during the 1980-81 season. The Panthers went on to play in the NWIT that season and finished with a 22-7 overall mark.
Following is Pittsburgh's best records after 14 games: 12-2:. . .1980-81 11-3:. . .1976-77, 1993-94, 1999-2000 10-4: . . .1979-80, 1981-82, 1992-93, 1994-95
The Panthers' 12 victories have already surpassed their win total from all of last season when they finished 8-19. The 1998-99 Panthers achieved their eighth and final win of the season Jan. 20 in a 75-58 decision over St. John's.
Bright Spots Despite the loss, the Panthers outrebounded the Huskies, 31-30. They were led by freshman Mandy Wittenmyer who had a game-high eight rebounds. Connecticut's 30 rebounds marked a season-low for the Huskies this year. Pittsburgh also had its best performance from the free throw line in several games. The Panthers have struggled from the line this season and in its two previous games made just 56.8 percent against West Virginia and 52.2 percent versus Providence. Pittsburgh connected on 14-of-20 shots at Connecticut for 70 percent shooting.
Snapping Streaks Pittsburgh won consecutive games from Dec. 29 through Jan. 8. During the stretch, the Panthers captured the Georgia Tech/Atlanta Marriott Northwest Holiday Classic with wins over Campbell and Georgia Tech. They also posted victories over Duquesne, St. John's and West Virginia during the span. Pittsburgh has put together a five-game winning streak six times in the program's history. The last time was the 1994-95 season. The Panthers' longest winning streak is nine games during the 1980-81 season.
Following is Pittsburgh's longest winning streaks:
Big East Best The Panthers' largest margin of victory in a Big East game is 40 points, achieved in a 90-50 win over Georgetown Jan. 26, 1985.
Following is Pittsburgh's five largest margins of victory in a Big East game:
40 points: 90-50 vs. Georgetown, 1/26/85
Shooting Stars For the season, Pittsburgh is converting 47.6 percent of its shots (157-of-330) in Big East play to rank third behind No. 1 ranked Connecticut and No. 5 Notre Dame. In games overall, the Panthers are 438-of-979 from the field for 44.7 percent which ranks them third as well.
Fabulous Frosh Wittenmyer, a 6-2 forward, is leading the Panthers with 11.4 points per game. Stewart, who comes off the bench, is third in scoring with 8.6 points. Wittenmyer is also the Panthers' leading rebounder with 7.6 boards per game.
Second Comings Most recently, the Panthers captured an 80-66 win over Syracuse by rallying from a first-half deficit. The Panthers used a 20-3 run in the second half top pull away after trailing by two at intermission. Pittsburgh mounted its most furious second half rally of the season Dec. 8 against Rutgers, but ultimately fell to the 13th- ranked Scarlet Knights. The Panthers outscored Rutgers 21-1 and held the Scarlet Knights without a field goal over the final nine minutes of the game. Despite outscoring Rutgers 35-29, the Panthers fell, 58-52. The Panthers also used second-half scoring rallies to take games over Duquesne, Georgia Tech, Robert Morris and Cincinnati.
Scoring Surge The second-half scoring surge has keyed five Panther victories, including a recent win over Syracuse when Pittsburgh had 44 points compared to 28 of the Orangewomen's. Pittsburgh also Georgia Tech by 11 points in the second half for a 75-69 victory. Pittsburgh used a surge at Cincinnati as well, outscoring the Bearcats, 36-17, to go on to a win and at Hampton, Pittsburgh held a 52-35 scoring advantage.
Freshmen Impact Their second-largest output came when they had 39 of 56 points against sixth-ranked Penn State. In that game, three freshmen scored in double-figures, including Wittenmyer with 12 points and Laine Selwyn and Williams who each had 11. Pittsburgh's frosh have also been solid on the boards. The freshmen are grabbing 48 percent (323-of-676) of the Panthers' rebounds. Three freshmen have emerged in the starting rotation. Forward Mandy Wittenmyer has earned the nod in 16 games and Dallas Williams has started in seven. Laine Selwyn has taken over the starting point guard position in 11 games.
Balanced Scoring
A Thrilling Win After trailing for the better part of the second half, the Panthers rallied from a 10-point deficit to tie the game on Brooke Stewart's 3-pointer with 55 seconds remaining in regulation. Pittsburgh prevailed in the extra period, outscoring the Dukes, 10-5. The last time the Panthers played an overtime game was the 1996-97 season when they lost a 74-67 decision to Georgetown Jan. 9. Pittsburgh's last overtime win came Feb. 2, 1988 with an 83-82 victory at Robert Morris.
Y2K First Freshman Mandy Wittenmyer sank the first layup of the game at the 19:52 mark for the first points of 2000. Bethune- Cookman and Maryland-Eastern Shore also tipped off at 2 p.m., but the game's first basket did not come until 19:02.
Happy Holidays Pittsburgh faced Campbell in the first round of action and won a 70-60 decision. It went on to take a 75-69 win over Georgia Tech in the championship game. The last time the Panthers captured a tournament on the road was during the 1991-92 season when they won the St. Francis Red Flash Classic with wins over George Mason and Massachusetts.
Ranked Foes The Panthers held top-ranked Connecticut to its lowest rebound total of the season with just 30 boards while Pittsburgh grabbed 31. Pittsburgh put up an impressive second half effort against the then 13th-ranked Rutgers, but ultimately fell, 58-52. The Panthers stunned the Scarlet Knights in the second half, cutting their deficit from 24 to three points with a 21-1 run and held Rutgers without a field goal for the final nine minutes of the game. Pittsburgh did not fare as well against sixth-ranked Penn State, but did set some season-high marks in the effort. The Panthers put together a strong second half in the game, dropping in 39 points compared to 17 in the first half. The Panthers attempted 68 shots from the field in the game, including 18 from behind the arc to mark a new season-high for each.
Setting New Marks The 86 points scored were the most for Pittsburgh this season. The Panthers have scored 80-plus points only one other time - in their 80-43 win over Lafayette in the season-opener. Pittsburgh also recorded its best 3-point field goal percentage of the season at Hampton. The Panthers were 8-of-16 (.500) from behind the arc. (Pittsburgh recently tied the high with its 4-of-8 3-point shooting versus St. John's.) Their previous high was 42.9 percent against Ohio on 6-of-14 shots. The eight 3-pointers made also set a new mark and was paced by freshman Brooke Stewart's stellar shooting. She was 6-of-9 from 3-point range. The Panthers also put up their strongest performance from the free-throw line this season. They shot 83.3 percent from the charity stripe making 20-of-24 shots.
Noting Non-Conference Foes The Panthers rounded out its 11-game non-conference schedule versus Duquesne on Jan. 1 for their ninth win. Last season, the Panthers did not fare as well. They were 5-4 overall against non-conference foes, but had a 3-0 mark on their home court. Their home wins included decisions over Robert Morris, Miami (Ohio) and an upset-win over Penn State.
Down the Stretch The Panthers battled Providence in the last seconds of the game on Jan. 12, but ultimately fell to the Friars' buzzer-beating shot. Mandy Wittenmyer hit a layup with four seconds to go to put Pittsburgh ahead by one point, but Providence sank the last second shot. Pittsburgh came alive in the final eight minutes of the game against Duquesne on New Year's Day. The Panthers rebounded from a 10-point deficit to tie the game with 55 seconds remaining and send it into overtime. They prevailed in the extra period for the victory. Pittsburgh held off a late Georgia Tech surge by sinking eight free throws in the final 31 seconds to hold on to its victory. Trailing by three against Cincinnati with under a minute to go in the game, freshman Laine Selwyn hit a 3-pointer at the 15- second mark to tie the game. Monique Toney came up big just moments later sinking another 3-pointer with five seconds on the clock to win the game, 58-55. Pittsburgh showed its composure through the waning minutes of the game against Kent, but the outcome was not as desirable. The Panthers began to rally from a 14-point deficit with 1:50 to go in the game to pull within five with 53 seconds to go on three 3-pointers. Brooke Stewart hit back-to-back treys while Monique Toney hit one of her own. The Panthers, however, could not pull any closer and ultimately fell to Kent.
In the Rankings Additionally, five of Pittsburgh's opponents have been ranked throughout the season in the USA Today/ESPN and Associated Press polls, including Connecticut, Notre Dame, Rutgers, Penn State and Boston College. Pittsburgh has 13 home games on its slate this year, the most since the 1996-97 season when it had 15 home contests, and it will face three of its ranked opponents at Fitzgerald.
Pittsburgh Ranked Opponents
*Note - AP Rankings through games of Jan. 24 and USA Today/ESPN through games of Jan. 24.
Panther Player Notes This season Toney leads Pittsburgh with her 80 assists and ranks sixth in the Big East Conference in league games with 5.0 per game. Senior Gina Montesano could also break into the top-10 career assist leaders this season. She has dished out 196 assists since 1995-96.
Following is a breakdown of the all-time assist leaders:
Career Rebound Leaders Name Years No. Toney Needs 1. Debbie Lewis . . . . 1977-81 638 . . . . 411 2. Kim Tirik. . . . . . 1982-86 592 . . . . 365 3. Carol Morton . . . . 1991-95 534 . . . . 307 4. Jennifer Shingler . .1986-90.393 . . . . 166 5. Kathy Paczkowski. . .1976-80.340 . . . . 113 6. Jo Jo Guzman . . . . 1993-97 256 . . . . 29 7. Erin Maloy . . . . . 1990-94 241 . . . . 14 8. Jill McElhinny. . . .1989-93.240 . . . . 13 9. Maureern McConnell. .1989-91.234 . . . . 7 10. MONIQUE TONEY. . . . 1997-. .228
Marvelous Mandy For the season, the 6-2 forward from Mechanicsburg, Pa., is averaging 11.4 points and 7.6 rebounds and she is one of two Panthers to average double-figures.
Seeing Double Wittenmyer has posted a double-digit scoring total in 12 of the 17 games and has five double-double performances to her credit. Her most recent one came against Syracuse with 15 points and 10 rebounds. Additionally, Wittenmyer has led the Panthers in points and rebounds five times. She has led Pittsburgh in points six times and in rebounds on 12 occassions.
MVP
Giving it to Gina
Leave it to Laine
The Talented Toney Toney has scored in double-figures in 10 games this season, including seven of the first eight contests. She posted a season-high 21 points versus Providence Jan. 12 and had a team-high 16 in teh win over Syracuse. Even though Toney is scoring a great deal, she is being unselfish with the basketball as well. She is averaging 4.44 assists with a team-high 75 and has 25 steals to her credit. Toney is dishing out 5.0 assists per game in conference play to rank her sixth amoung league leaders.
Super Stewart Stewart has come off the bench in every game this year and is averaging 19.3 minutes of play. For the season she has a 8.6 point per game average to her credit. She has posted double-figure scoring totals in seven games overall, including two with 20- plus points. The 5-8 guard is a product of nearby East Allegheny High School. Stewart finished her high school career with over 3,000 points and averaged 29.0 points in her career, including 31.2 as a senior.
Brooke's Clutch Performance After the Panthers rallied from a 10-point deficit, Stewart made a key 3-pointer with 55 seconds remaining in regulation to tie the score at 52 and send it into overtime. In the overtime period, Duquesne went ahead 57-54, but Stewart came up big again to tie the game with a 3-pointer and spark Pittsburgh to the win.
Blocking Bliss Morris is tied for second in the Big East Conference with her 2.53 blocks per game average. She is just behind Notre Dame's Ruth Riley who is averaging 2.94. Nationally, Morris ranks 10th with 2.6 blocks per game (games through Jan. 24).
Career Blocked Shots Leaders Name Total Morris Needs 1. Gail Aughburns. . .241. . . .54 2. Wanda Randolf . . .211. . . .24 3. Jennifer Bruce. . .203. . . .16 4. Connie Hurt . . . .189. . . . 2 5. Nickeia Morris. . .188
Magical Morris If Morris continues on this pace, she will rank among the top seven rebounders in Pittsburgh history when she completes her career. Last year, she had 222 on the season and finished the year ranked fourth in the Big East with a 8.2 average.
Career Rebound Leaders Name Total Morris Needs 1. Wanda Randolph. . .1,107. . . . 478 2. Gail Aughburns. . .1,007. . . . 378 3. Jennifer Bruce. . .998. . . . . 370 4. Pam Miklasevich . .968. . . . . 340 5. Jonna Huemrich. . .954. . . . .325 6. Lorri Johnson . . .908. . . . . 279 7. Latia Howard. . . .664. . . . . .35 8. Nickeia Morris. . .620
Big East Rookie Honors A 5-8 guard from North Versailles, Pa., Stewart averaged 13.0 points and 6.0 rebounds as the Panthers captured wins over Big East Conference-rivals West Virginia and St. John's. Stewart came off the bench against St. John's to record a game-high 12 points while adding six rebounds. Against West Virginia, she netted 14 points, including 10 in the second half, six rebounds, four assists and three steals. In the two games, Stewart shot 52.9 percent making 9-of-17 shots from the field, including five from 3-point range.
More Big East Rookie Honors Wittenmyer averaged 15.3 points and 8.0 rebounds in wins over Campbell, Georgia Tech and Duquesne. She recorded a career-high 17 points against Georgia Tech and chipped in a game-high 14 versus Campbell. A key factor in Pittsburgh's overtime win over Duquesne, Wittenmyer had a double-double with 15 points and 11 rebounds, while adding five blocks, four steals and three assists. Wittenmyer's free throw with 1:53 left in the overtime period gave Pittsburgh the lead for good, 58-57. She sank two more free throws down the stretch and added two key blocks to preserve the win.
Pittsburgh's Double-Figure Scorers (45) Mandy Wittenmyer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 Times Monique Toney. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Nine Times Brooke Stewart . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Seven Times Nickeia Morris . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Five Times Gina Montesano . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Five Times Dallas Williams. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Three Times Celeste Barkley. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Two Times Laine Selwyn . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Two Times Michelle Katkowski . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . One Time
Pittsburgh's Double-Figure Rebounders (8) Nickeia Morris . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Three Times Mandy Wittenmyer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Five Times
Pittsburgh's Double-Doubles (6) Mandy Wittenmyer (5).Dec. 1 vs. Kent . .10 pts., 12 rebs. Jan.1 vs. Duquesne. . . . . . . . . . .15 pts., 11 rebs. Jan. 8 vs. West Virginia. . . . . . . .16 pts., 10 rebs. Jan. 12 vs. Providence. . . . . . . . .19 pts., 13 rebs. Jan. 25 vs. Syracuse. . . . . . . . . .15 pts., 10 rebs. Nickeia Morris (1). .Nov. 21 vs. Lafayette 11 pts., 11 rebs.
Pittsburgh's 20-Plus Individual Scoring Performances (2) Brooke Stewart (2). .Dec. 11 vs. Hampton . . . .25 points Jan. 1 vs. Duquesne. 20 points
Pittsburgh Starting Lineup Records (12-6) Williams, Wittenmyer, Morris, Montesano, Toney . . . .3-1 Williams, Wittenmyer, Barkley, Toney, Selwyn . . . . .1-1 Williams, Wittenmyer, Morris, Toney, Selwyn. . . . . .1-0 Katkowski, Wittenmyer, Morris, Selwyn, Toney . . . . .4-2 Alexander, Katkowski, Morris, Toney, Selwyn. . . . . .2-0 Wittenmyer, Katkowski, Morris, Montesano, Toney. . . .0-2 Katkowski, Wittenmyer, Alexander, Montesano,Toney. . .1-0
Pittsburgh's Record in Games Led at Halftime. . . . . . . . .7-1 Trailed at Halftime. . . . . . .5-5 Tied at Halftime . . . . . . . .0-0 Record in Overtime . . . . . . .1-0 Had a 45 FG% or better . . . . .9-3 Had less than 45 FG% . . . . . .3-3 Opponents had a 45 FG% or better . . . . . .1-1 Held opponents to less than 45 FG% . . . . 11-5 Outrebounded opponent. . . . . .8-4 Been outrebounded by opponent. . . . . 4-2 Tied an opponent in rebounding . . . . 0-0 Had 70 FT% or better . . . . . .5-2 Had less than a 70 FT% . . . . .7-4
Games decided by.... 1 point. . . . . . . . . . . . .One 2 points . . . . . . . . . . . . -- 3 points . . . . . . . . . . . .One 4 points . . . . . . . . . . . . -- 5 points . . . . . . . . . . . .One 6 points . . . . . . . . . . . .Two 7 points . . . . . . . . . . . .One 8 points . . . . . . . . . . . .One 9 points . . . . . . . . . . . . -- 10 points. . . . . . . . . . . .One 11-15 points . . . . . . . . .Three 16-20 points . . . . . . . . .Three 21-29 points . . . . . . . . . .Two 30-39 points . . . . . . . . . .One 40-49 points . . . . . . . . . . -- 50+ points . . . . . . . . . . .One
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