March 3, 2006

HARTFORD, Conn. - For the first time since the inaugural season of the Big East Conference in 1983, two Pitt women's basketball players earned First Team or Second Team All-Big East honors the same year.

Sophomore center Marcedes Walker (Philadelphia, Pa./University City) and junior guard Mallorie Winn (San Diego, Calif./Bishop's/Georgia Tech) earned All-Big East First Team and Second Team honors, respectively, on Friday evening at the annual postseason banquet, held at the Hilton Hartford.

Walker is the first Panther since Jonna Huemrich in 1994 to earn All-Big East First Team honors after finishing the regular season ranked fourth in scoring, second in rebounding and eighth in field-goal percentage. She holds the Big East's longest double-digit scoring streak at 19 games and has 11 double-doubles, including nine in conference play.

A Preseason All-Big East selection in October, Walker has responded to double and triple teams on a nightly basis to average 17.4 points and 9.6 rebounds per game, while shooting nearly 49 percent from the field. Walker was the first Pitt freshman to earn All-Big East honors in 2004-05.

Winn enjoyed a successful first season with the Panthers after sitting out all of last year due to the NCAA transfer rule. She was second on the team and 10th in the Big East in scoring at 15.0 points per game, and also averaged nearly four rebounds and four assists per contest. A threat behind the arc, Winn is also among the conference leaders in 3-point field goals made per game. She is the Panthers' first Second Team honoree since Carol Morton in 1995.

Together, Walker and Winn are the first Panthers to earn First or Second Team honors in the same year since Jennifer Bruce and Pam Miklasevich were named to the All-Big East First Team in 1983.

The Panthers enter the Big East Championship as the No. 6 seed, taking on 11th-seed Cincinnati at 8 p.m. on Saturday, March 4, at the Hartford Civic Center. Pitt has won 18 games overall and nine games in the conference for the first time in over a decade. The winner will play 15th-ranked and third-seed DePaul on Sunday, March 5, at 8 p.m. in the quarterfinals.