Women's Hoops Downs Georgetown

2/26/2000

Panthers get 16th victory of the season with 77-66 win.

PITTSBURGH - The Pittsburgh women's basketball team used 13 unanswered points midway through the second half to take control of the game and go on to a 77-66 win over visiting Georgetown tonight at Fitzgerald Field House.

The win improves Pittsburgh's record to 16-10 overall (7-8 in the Big East Conference) and doubles its win total from all of last season when it finished at 8-19.

The Panthers held a 43-42 advantage at the 15:38 mark of the second half and went on to hold the Hoyas without a point over the next 5:28 to take a decisive 56-42 lead. The 13-point scoring surge was fueled by six points from freshman Mandy Wittenmyer (Mechanicsburg, Pa./Cumberland Valley) and five from junior Celeste Barkley (Rochester, N.Y./Penfield). Georgetown could only come as close as nine points in the remaining minutes and Pittsburgh rolled to the victory.

Georgetown jumped to a 13-3 lead early in the game, but Pittsburgh cut its deficit to four points (17-13) by the 11:23 mark. The Hoyas increased their margin to 24-17 minutes later, but the Panthers tied the score, 26-26, at the 5:39 mark with a 9-2 run. The teams battled to two more ties in the half and a jump shot from freshman Laine Selwyn (Coral Springs, Fla./Coral Springs) with 22 seconds to go gave the Panthers a 36-34 halftime advantage.

Selwyn led four Pittsburgh players in double figures with her career-high 21 points. She was joined by Wittenmyer who chipped in 16 points of her own and Monique Toney (Yorba Linda, Calif./Cerritos Valley Christian) and Barkley who had 15 and 12 points, respectively.

The Panthers shot 43.5 percent (27-of-62) for the game and held a decisive 45-23 rebounding advantage.

Pittsburgh will play its final regular-season game when it travels to Miami Tuesday, Feb. 29. The Big East Tournament