2009-10 Pitt Women’s Basketball 2 0 0 8 a n d 2 0 0 9 N C A A To u r n a m e n t S w e e t 1 6 P a r t i c i p a n t Game 31 (24-7, 12-4 Big East) March 21, 2009 #14 Pitt 64, Montana 35 Bank of America Arena (10,000)
Game 32 (25-7, 12-4 Big East) March 23, 2009 #14 Pitt 65, Gonzaga 60 Bank of America Arena (10,000)
SEATTLE, Wash. (AP) - Shavonte Zellous scored 15 of her 31 points in the first half to keep Pitt even with energized and inspired Montana, and the superior talent of the fourth-seeded Panthers took over in the second half of a 64-35 win on Saturday night in the first-round of the Oklahoma City Regional. Zellous carried Pitt in the first half and the Panthers defense did the rest. Pitt held 13th-seeded Montana to just 10 second-half points, tying the tournament record for fewest points allowed in a half. Connecticut gave up just 10 to Long Island in the second half of a first-round game in 2001. While Pitt coach Agnus Berenato claims her team doesn’t have any stars, it’s clear they’d be lost without Zellous. As her teammates struggled with Montana’s plodding, methodical pace in the first half, Zellous kept knocking down contested shots in traffic, and rarely missed when she found herself open in space. She then took advantage of Montana’s countless mistakes in the second half as a one-point Pitt (24-7) lead at halftime turned into a comfortable rout. Zellous scored six straight in barely 1 minute as part of the Panthers’ 13-2 run to open the second half that finally dimmed any upset hopes for the 13th-seeded Lady Griz. Zellous hit 13 of 27 shots and grabbed nine rebounds. Shayla Scott added 11 points, including a pair of 3-pointers during Pitt’s decisive charge to start the second half. The undersized and less athletic Lady Griz did their best to negate the Panthers superior talent in the first half. They handled Pitt’s trapping pressure defense in the early going and milked the shot clock on nearly every possession. But when the shots stopped falling, the Lady Griz quickly found themselves looking up at a huge deficit and getting worn down by the intensity of every possession against Pitt’s aggressive defense. Mandy Morales led Montana (28-5) with 11 points and eight assists, but her entire team struggled in the second half. Morales scored with 18:33 left in the second half to keep Montana within 28-27, but the Lady Griz missed their next eight shots and added seven turnovers to a 10minute scoreless drought that was finally broken on Britney Lohman’s free throw with 8:20 left. By then, Montana was in a 49-28 hole and the 2,000 or so Lady Griz fans that made the eight-hour trek from Missoula to Seattle were left without much of a growl. Montana didn’t score another field goal until Jessa Loman Linford’s turnaround in the lane with 4:30 left, but Montana was just 4 of 22 shooting in the second half. The Lady Griz were trying for their first tournament win since beating San Diego State in the first round of the 1995 tourney as a No. 12 seed. Montana, which won its 21st Big Sky regular season title this season, has now dropped its last eight tourney games.
SEATTLE (AP) - Shavonte Zellous carried Pittsburgh back to the round of 16. Barely. Zellous scored nine of her 24 points in the final 4 minutes, and Pittsburgh capitalized on Gonzaga’s youthful mistakes in the closing minutes of a 65-60 win in the second-round of the Oklahoma City Regional on Monday night. The 12th-seeded Bulldogs made life extremely difficult for the No. 4 seed Panthers, but it was Zellous and Pitt’s experience coming through at the end. Zellous scored on a pair of drives off Gonzaga turnovers in the final 2 minutes then hit a pair of free throws to put the Panthers up 63-60 with 15.9 seconds left after another Gonzaga mistake. When Janelle Bekkering’s 3-pointer missed with 6 seconds left, the Panthers were headed to the regional semifinals for the second straight year. Xenia Stewart capped the victory with a pair of free throws with 3 seconds left and the Panthers assured themselves a date with either top-seeded Oklahoma or No. 9 seed Georgia Tech in the round of 16. Last year, Pitt advanced to the regional semis for the first time in school history before getting bounced by eventual national finalist Stanford. Zellous struggled through one of her toughest outings of the season, only to come through with crucial plays in the closing minutes as Gonzaga showed the signs of a team playing just its three NCAA tournament game in school history. Neither team shot very well, but Pitt (25-7) was 20 of 22 at the free-throw line, the only two misses by Zellous. For all the great plays spunky Gonzaga point guard Courtney Vandersloot made in helping the Zags stay even with Pitt for most of the night, she was responsible for two tipped passes that turned into breakaways by Zellous in the closing minutes. Vandersloot led the Bulldogs (27-7) with 18 points, seven assists and seven rebounds. Heather Bowman, the Bulldogs’ leading scorer, battled her way to 15 points, but scored only one basket in the final nine minutes. The second half was a constant back-and-forth swing of momentum, neither team able to put together a sustained run and build any sort of cushion. The biggest lead for either team was Pitt’s final five-point margin. The Panthers led to 51-47 with 7:41 left and seemed on the verge of finally pushing ahead for good. But like most of the second half, Gonzaga wasn’t done. Vandersloot scored on a floater and Bowman’s three-point play on the low block pushed Goznaga ahead by one. The Zags lead was three after Vandersloot’s smooth drive out of a timeout with 3:46 left, but Zellous pulled Pitt even with a 3 and Stewart’s 3 put the Panthers up 57-56 moments later.
Montana (35) Player Min. Ena-F 18 Beck-F 23 Lohman-C 35 Morales-G 38 Rogers-G 38 Nance-Johnson 10 Stender 9 Linford 20 Ware 2 Guardipee 5 Robinson 2 Team Totals 200
Gonzaga (60) Player Frieson-F Schaefer-F Bowman-C Bekkering-G Vandersloot-G Lorenzo Standish Raap Bowen Team Totals
Pitt (64) Player Sallard-F Scott-F Wilson-C Stewart-G Zellous-G Harrison Cole Ogoke Nwude Popovec Team Totals
FG-FGA 0-4 2-6 2-5 5-11 2-13 0-2 0-0 2-4 0-0 0-2 1-1
3FG-FGA 0-0 1-3 0-1 1-4 2-11 0-1 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-2 0-0
FT-FTA 0-0 0-0 1-4 0-0 2-2 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0
14-48
4-22
3-6
Min. 29 28 16 34 30 24 21 4 5 9
FG-FGA 2-5 4-6 1-5 13-27 1-1 1-5 2-4 0-0 1-2 1-3
3FG-FGA 1-1 2-4 0-0 1-5 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0
FT-FTA 0-0 1-2 0-0 4-4 1-2 2-2 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-2
200
26-58
4-10
8-12
RB 5 1 4 4 1 2 1 5 0 1 0 2 26
RB 3 5 2 9 6 1 5 1 0 2 5 39
PF 2 0 2 4 0 2 2 0 0 0 0
A 1 0 0 8 1 0 0 1 0 1 0
TO 3 1 0 4 3 3 0 0 0 0 0
BLK 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0
S 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0
PTS 0 5 5 11 8 0 0 4 0 0 2
12
12
14
3
2
35
PF 1 1 2 1 1 1 2 0 0 1
A 1 1 0 2 4 2 1 1 0 1
TO 1 1 0 1 0 1 1 0 0 1
BLK 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
S 0 1 0 4 1 1 1 0 0 0
PTS 5 11 2 31 3 4 4 0 2 2
10
13
6
1
8
64
Pitt (65) Player Sallard-F Scott-F Wilson-C Zellous-G Stewart-G Harrison Cole Team Totals
Min. 38 16 38 35 27 13 6 4 23
FG-FGA 2-6 4-7 5-15 2-8 6-16 0-0 0-2 1-2 1-2
3FG-FGA 0-0 1-3 0-0 1-4 0-2 0-0 0-1 0-0 0-1
FT-FTA 0-0 1-1 5-5 4-4 6-6 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0
200
21-58
2-11
16-16
Min. 28 37 14 35 4018 28
FG-FGA 2-8 2-9 4-6 6-21 3-5 2-7 1-3
3FG-FGA 0-0 1-3 0-0 2-4 2-2 0-2 0-0
FT-FTA 0-0 2-2 2-2 10-12 4-4 2-2 0-0
200
20-59
5-11
20-22
RB 8 2 7 5 7 0 0 0 4 5 38
PF 3 3 1 5 2 0 0 1 0
A 2 0 2 0 7 0 0 0 0
TO 3 1 4 3 4 2 0 0 1
BLK 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1
S 1 0 0 2 5 0 0 0 1
PTS 4 10 15 9 18 0 0 2 2
15
11
18
4
9
60
RB 1 8 7 7 2 3 6 3 37
PF 2 4 2 3 1 3 1
A 4 3 0 1 3 1 0
TO 3 4 1 2 2 3 0
BLK 0 0 4 0 1 0 5
S 3 2 1 0 1 1 1
PTS 4 7 10 24 12 6 2
16
12
15
10
9
65
Halftime-PITT 24-24; FG pct. - PITT .339, GU .362; 3-pt. FG pct. - PITT .455, GU .182; FT pct. - PITT .909, UM 1.000. A -2270 ; Officials - Michael Price, Gator Parrish, Shelley Nakasone
Halftime-PITT 26-25; FG pct. - PITT .448, UM .292; 3-pt. FG pct. - PITT .400, UM .182; FT pct. - PITT .667, UM .500. A -2,853 ; Officials - Gator Parrish, Shelley Nakasone, Darren Krzesnik
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