11-14-17

The Pitt News

The independent student newspaper of the University of Pittsburgh | PIttnews.com | November 14, 2017 | Volume 108 | Issue 68

WOMEN’S BASKETBALL WINS SCHOOL DAY GAME, PG 6

Club hosts series on dating violence

Remy Samuels Staff Writer

Local students cheer on the women’s basketball team during the ninth annual School Day game. Pitt won 51-39.

Thomas Yang | SENIOR STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

PITT SUED OVER TITLE IX DISPUTE

The Pitt News Staff

A former Pitt law student has sued the University, claiming Pitt employees mistreated her when they responded to a Title IX complaint she filed.

Hannah Rullo filed a lawsuit Oct. 25 in the U.S. District Court in Pittsburgh against the University of Pittsburgh saying she was subjected to gender discrimination by Pitt employees and the

University’s Title IX office.

Rullo had filed a Title IX complaint against her ex-boyfriend last September but says Pitt officials didn’t conduct a thorough investigation, the lawsuit claims. The incident ended with her being suspended from Pitt.

The lawsuit alleges Pitt did not take Rullo’s complaints seriously and engaged in “deliberate indifference” that resulted in an unsafe environment.

Rullo’s lawsuit singles out Kevin Deasy, associate dean of students at Pitt Law, and Kristy Rzepecki, a Pitt Title IX office employee, as discriminating against her during the process of filing a Title IX complaint.

University spokesperson Joe Miksch said in an email Monday that Pitt doesn’t comment on pending litigation. Rzepecki did not respond to a voicemail left on her office phone Monday See Dispute on page 2

A Pitt student’s death is still leaving a mark on campus, more than a month after her passing.

In light of Alina Sheykhet’s death, Pitt Unmuted — a club created for survivors of sexual assault to share their stories — held a series of three events discussing the topic of intimate partner violence. The club was formed in October in response to Secretary of Education Betsy Devos’ decision to rescind Obama-era Title IX protections.

Sheykhet, a junior physical therapy student, was found dead in her home on Cable Place Oct. 8. Matthew Darby, Sheykhet’s ex-boyfriend whom she had filed a protection-from-abuse order against, was charged with homicide.

The first event of the club, held Oct. 16, focused on defining intimate partner violence and the role gender plays in it. The second discussion — which about 10 people attended on Oct. 30 — concentrated on issues within the judicial system concerning domestic violence, and the third on Monday, Nov. 12, highlighted the emotional, physical and psychological aspects of intimate abuse.

Krithika Pennathur, the president of Pitt Unmuted and a junior majoring in English See Series on page 2

News Dispute, pg. 1

morning. The Title IX office declined to comment and referred questions back to Pitt’s communication office.

Deasy, reached in his office, declined to comment and referred questions to Pitt’s general council. Late Monday morning, Susan McCarthy in the general council’s office said Geovette Washington, Pitt’s chief legal officer, was unavailable.

According to the lawsuit, beginning in October 2015, Rullo began dating Leonel Enrique Mendieta. She claims Mendieta was abusive. The relationship continued until August 2016 — by then, both were students at Pitt Law. The lawsuit describes a Sept. 2, 2016, incident in which Rullo says Mendieta beat her after he got drunk. It says she called the police, but when they arrived and questioned Mendieta, Pittsburgh police arrested Rullo. Mendieta alleged in a protection-from-abuse order filed Sept. 6, that Rullo had assaulted him during the encounter.

The charges against Rullo were later dropped, court documents show.

In the PFA filed against Rullo, Mendieta claimed Rullo pinned him down and punched him. Rullo filed a PFA the next day, claiming Mendieta punched her repeatedly and she feared he “might have his gun on him.” The two PFAs both say the two had dinner and went back to

Series, pg. 1 nonfiction writing, history, and gender, sexuality and women’s studies, said she considered the events to be successful for a club just starting out.

“It’s a really difficult topic to talk about so we do understand that sometimes members do not want to come to meetings just because they might be triggered,” she said.

At the first meeting of the three-part series, Pennathur said the group had an enlightening discussion on how intimate partner violence can occur within all relationships, not just heterosexual ones.

“It’s not a singular type of thing where a man is abusing a woman,” Pennathur said. “It was definitely a difficult first discussion, but I think it went well.”

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her apartment, but drastically differ in who was guilty of assault.

Mendieta didn’t respond to an email or pick up two phone calls placed Monday morning.

Rullo didn’t answer the phone when reached at the number listed on her PFA. On Sept. 7, Rullo claims she received a call from Deasy — who taught a class both Rullo and Mendieta were enrolled in — requesting she come to his office.

The lawsuit says Deasy told Rullo that Mendieta had already spoken to him. Deasy, according to the lawsuit, took Mendieta’s side. The lawsuit says Deasy told her she should take a leave of absence and expect the Title IX office to contact her. Deasy told her he would forget any absences if she stayed home and didn’t make a “spectacle” — which Rullo concluded was referring to her bruised face, the lawsuit says.

On the same day, the lawsuit says, Rullo made an appointment with Rzepecki in the Title IX office. Rullo told Rzepecki on Sept. 9 that she wanted to file a Title IX complaint against Mendieta, to which Rzepecki responded by asking Rullo if the situation could be worked out another way because a Title IX complaint could result in suspension or expulsion, the lawsuit says. According to the lawsuit, Rullo told Rzepecki and Katie Pope — Pitt’s Title IX coordinator — that she feared Mendieta was a danger and filed the complaint with the office.

Rullo’s lawsuit then says she faced a pattern

of abusive behavior on campus after the incidents. The lawsuit says Mendieta’s friends passed around a mugshot of Rullo on Sept. 13 from when she was arrested. The lawsuit mentions another incident in which Mendieta allegedly made an inappropriate comment toward another female student.

Rullo told the Title IX office about these incidents “because of her safety concerns regarding continued interaction with Mendieta and his associates and supporters,” the lawsuit says. Rzepecki accused Rullo of lying about the mugshot because it’s difficult to get a mugshot, the lawsuit says.

Rullo contacted her professors, including Deasy, on about Sept. 21, telling them she was “suffering severe anxiety which was interfering with her studies,” the lawsuit says. Deasy agreed to a meeting, but after the meeting was confirmed, Rullo received an email from “the federal student loan servicing organization essentially notifying her that [Pitt] had changed her student status from a full-time student to a leave of absence,” the lawsuit says.

Accompanied by a “faculty advocate,” Rullo met with Deasy to discuss a leave of absence. According to the lawsuit, Deasy told the faculty advocate he saw bruises on Rullo and Mendieta, but “it was not his job to compare bruises.” Deasy said the Title IX office already found Rullo “‘guilty,’” according to the lawsuit.

In the lawsuit, Rullo also disputes the Uni-

versity’s chronology about when she filed a complaint with the Title IX office. She also claims “no investigation was taking place.”

Rullo informed Rzepecki on Oct. 6 of a photo a friend of Mendieta’s was circulating of her in a “somewhat revealing Halloween costume,” according to the lawsuit. Rzepecki told Rullo she couldn’t do much and said, “Why do you girls dress up like that? What do you expect?” the lawsuit says, adding that Rzepecki laughed at Rullo.

Rullo stopped attending classes Oct. 3, 2016.

On Oct. 14, Pitt informed her Mendieta had filed his own Title IX complaint, according to the lawsuit.

In a meeting on Nov. 8, 2016, Rzepecki accused Rullo of making false allegations, according to the lawsuit. The lawsuit says Rullo provided substantial evidence of medical records, interviews and court documents in regard to her gender discrimination Title IX complaint.

The Title IX office and a review board concluded Rullo violated the student code of conduct related to dating violence, the lawsuit says. Effective April 21, 2017, she faced suspension until the fall 2017 semester, a mandatory Title IX workshop and disciplinary probation for her remaining semesters.

Filed by Rullo’s attorneys, including lead counsel Christian Bagin, the lawsuit demanded a jury trial.

John Hamilton, Ashwini Sivaganesh, Janine Faust and Rachel Glasser contributed reporting.

At the second event Oct. 30, Unmuted board members Caroline Eddy, a junior majoring in English writing nonfiction, and Madeline Schatten, a junior majoring in anthropology, led a discussion about issues within the judicial system when it comes to domestic violence. They focused on the pros and cons of obtaining a protection-from-abuse order.

A PFA protects an individual from another’s abuse without placing the offender under arrest by allowing a judge to grant temporary protection.

“A PFA is less about punishment but more about protection for the victim,” Schatten said.

Eddy said the advantage of a PFA is that it does not punish the offender, so it would make the victim more inclined to report. But at the same time, she said, once one leaves the courtroom, the victim is still at risk because the offender is not locked away.

An attendee of the second meeting, who asked to remain anonymous because they experienced sexual assault, was surprised to hear at the talk about the difficulties sexual assault survivors can face filling out a PFA. The orders have a three-year limit and do not result in criminal charges for the offender.

“I thought originally that the PFA was more protective over the victim,” they said. “It’s really eye-opening coming to these kinds of discussions because you really get to see the way other people feel.”

Pennathur said Sheykhet had filed for a PFA but that nothing really came of it.

“I think Pitt can do more with providing survivors resources,” Pennathur said. “If [information] was more accessible to people, I think more would want to report.”

Some of the resources that are offered at Pitt include the counseling center, the Title IX

office, the Self Defense Awareness Familiarization Exchange program, the Pitt Police and the Office of Student Conduct.

But the survivor who chose to remain anonymous agreed with Pennathur that Pitt could provide more resources besides recommending going to Title IX, which they feel is too bureaucratic.

Schatten explained that perpetrators of sexual violence are less likely to go to jail or prison than other criminals, citing statistics that only 344 out of every 1,000 sexual assaults are reported to police — meaning about two out of three go unreported. Pennathur said survivors that do report are often met with disappointing results or can be frustrated by the lengthy judicial process.

November 14, 2017

Find the full story online at

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2

Opinions column

Whitefish debacle points to dubious dealings

Bianca De

For The Pitt News As a small-town business owner, what do you do when a local Facebook friend suddenly becomes Secretary of the Interior? If you happen to live in Whitefish, Montana, you simply wait for the next natural disaster.

Puerto Rico was almost entirely without power after Hurricane Maria devastated the island earlier this fall. The Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority awarded a $300 million contract to Whitefish Energy Holdings late last month to rebuild 100 miles of transmission lines the storm had destroyed.

By a strange coincidence, Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke and Whitefish are both originally based in the same small Montana town. And that isn’t the only thing that’s hard to believe about Whitefish’s contract. It prohibited government audits of the work or profits and suggested FEMA had already approved the contract.

However, FEMA Administrator Brock Long testified to the U.S. Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Oct. 31 that his agency was unaware of the contract, and would have been unlikely to have approved it had they seen it.

“No lawyer inside FEMA would ever have agreed to some of the language in that contract,” Long said.

But you don’t need to be a FEMA lawyer to see that Puerto Rico’s contract with Whitefish was a questionable decision. In a congressional hearing Nov. 7, Rep. Raul Grijalva, D-Ariz., went even further, suggesting the company’s relationship with members of President Donald Trump’s cabinet had a role in awarding of the

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contract.

“No more sweetheart deals to fly-by-night companies,” Grijalva said. “That needs to stop, and it needs to stop immediately as well.”

Whitefish, a small company with little experience, was paid suspiciously well for the work it did.

Whitefish’s qualifications to undertake this large and technically challenging task were few, if any. On the day Maria hit Puerto Rico, the company only had two employees. Whitefish’s basic trucking license had previously been revoked when, according to The Washington Post, they began the process of transporting five helicopters and 2,500 tons of equipment to Puerto Rico.

An Energy Department contract for a small transmission line repair in Arizona in July listed Whitefish as an “economically disadvantaged woman-owned small business,” according to the Post. Amanda Techmanski, a registered nurse and the wife of Whitefish CEO Andrew Techmanski, is listed as the manager. The company address is registered to the couple’s home.

But despite its apparently humble origins in a Montana homestead, Whitefish charged prices that outstripped even those of the biggest world-class contractors. The company’s hourly pay scales were $319 for linemen, and $462 for foremen. Compare this to rates for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers who are doing similar work in Puerto Rico, offering hourly rates of $195 for linemen and $230 for foremen.

So how did PREPA decide to award this overpriced contract to a company with next to no experience or resources for the job? PREPA claims it’s because other companies, wary of the dangers of the island’s financial solvency, asked

for House a lump Committee sum upfront. This on Natural Resources sent explanation raises a letter to Ricardo Ramos, nothing but more director of PREPA, questionquestions about ing the Whitefish contract and Whitefish. How could requesting documentation of a company with only the contract. $1 million in annual “Specifically, the size revenue afford to risk and terms of the contract, doing $300 million of as well as the circumwork with a bankrupt stances surrounding agency? the contract’s formation, While its financial raise questions regarding assets aren’t all that PREPA’s standard contract impressive, Whitefish awarding procedures,” the letter does boast connecread. tions to the Trump If it’s found that Zinke or othadministration and ers in the Trump administration prominent supporters. were complicit in securing govRyan Zinke’s ernment work for hometown son worked friends, it wouldn’t be the first at Whitefish time the federal governrnent for a summer.

Abby Katz | STAFF ILLUSTRATOR was caught picking favorLolita Zinke ites. Sometimes, like during — Ryan’s wife — President Ulysses Grant’s tenure in of“likes” Amanda Techmanski fice, corruption due to favoritism didn’t reflect photos on Facebook. One of Whitefish’s key financial backers, HBC Holdings, was founded personal corruption on the part of the president

by Joe Colonnetta, who has also donated thou- — simply presidential ineptitude. For others, like President Warren Harding, entanglements sands to Trump and other Republicans. like the Teapot Dome Scandal demonstrated Although Zinke denied any influence on the awarding of the contract in a tweet Oct. 27, corruption reaching all the way up to the top.

Of course, it’s uncertain what investigators he did acknowledge that he had been in contact will find in the documentation of the Whitefish with Whitefish. Yet the connections, coincicontract. But no outcome will reflect well on dences and improbabilities make it difficult to President Trump and his administration’s abilbelieve that the deal was free of corruption. ity to deal with natural disaster relief. At best, Controversy around the deal led PREPA to cancel it, though Whitefish has already billed or it allowed an incompetent organization to take been paid $20.8 million, according to The New the important role of fixing the island’s electric grid. At the worst, one of its members used a York Times. The work already completed by position of influence to provide a friend with a the company was exceedingly poor — just last sizeable payoff ”.

Thursday, a power line repaired by Whitefish Either way, one thing’s for sure — in 2017, it failed, reducing the number of islanders with pays to be from Whitefish, Montana. electricity from 40 percent to just 18 percent.

Write to Bianca at bid6@pitt.edu.

In light of the issues with the company, the

November 14, 2017

3

from the editorial board

Saccone would underserve 18th district With the Republican Party’s announcement of their nominee over the weekend, the race to replace disgraced former Rep. Tim Murphy, R-Pa., just got a little more eccentric.

Rick Saccone, currently a member of the state legislature for the town of Elizabeth, received the nod from the state Republican party to be their nominee to fill the vacant seat. The state representative beat out a field of more moderate Republicans, including state Sen. Guy Reschenthaler and state Rep. Jason Ortitay.

Saccone, a veteran who lived in North Korea for a year, boasts a long list of bizarre credentials. Describing himself as “Trump without the money” in an interview in March with KDKA political editor Jon Delano, he’s not only much too conservative for the district he’s seeking to represent in Congress — he’s too delusional.

The communities clumped together to form Pennsylvania’s 18th Congressional district stretch from the Ohio border to Westmoreland County and include suburbs to the south of Pittsburgh — most notably Mount Lebanon, Bethel Park and Upper St. Clair. And while Donald Trump won the district overall with around 58

percent of the vote, many of his votes came from heavily conservative rural areas in Greene and Washington counties.

Republican dominance in the district with Tim Murphy as the party’s standard-bearer relied much more heavily on the support of more moderate, wealthy voters closer to the City. Murphy lives in Upper St. Clair and, while strongly opposed to women’s access to abortion, received recognition as more moderate on issues like police relations and economic stimulus spending.

Saccone, on the other hand, places the emphasis of his lawmaking philosophy on extreme adherence to religious Christian teaching. One of his best known initiatives in the Pennsylvania legislature, which he proposed in 2013, would have required all public schools in the commonwealth to prominently display the words “In God We Trust.” In a 2016 interview with PennLive, Saccone said the bill would encourage patriotism and religiosity.

He said “our motto” was there during the Cold War when “we were trying to show our country’s devotion to God when we were fighting against Godless commu-

nism.”

Saccone is welcome to fight the Cold War over and over again in his head. But he shouldn’t doing so as a member of Congress, where someone could be making meaningful improvements for ordinary Pennsylvanians.

Southwestern Pennsylvania remains among the hardest hit regions of the country’s worsening opioid abuse epidemic. According to the Pennsylvania Coroners Association, counties in the 18th district are among the highest in the state for number of deaths related to opioid overdoses.

To be fair, Saccone has mentioned the crisis in the past, including in a Sept. 2016 public announcement, as an issue to be addressed. However, his focus on the crisis as a moral problem, instead of a primarily public health and economic issue, is concerning to say the least.

Whether or not Saccone will get a chance to address these issues on the national level remains to be seen until the special election next March to fill Murphy’s former seat. Until then, those living in the district should do everything in their power to ensure we don’t have to deal with that reality.

The Pitt News SuDoku 11/14/17 courtesy of dailysudoku.com

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November 14, 2017

4

Culture

Cats come into the spotlight at first Pittsburgh cat film festival Prachi Patel

For The Pitt News Laura Greenawalt tossed a handful of popcorn into her mouth and eagerly glanced up at the blank movie theater screen, waiting for the lights to dim, the film to begin and for her cat, Schuster, to become momentarily famous.

Greenawalt and Emily Starr, both residents of Lawrenceville, came out to a Friday night movie screening at the Row House Cinema for Pittsburgh’s first-ever Cat Film Festival.

Running from Nov. 10-16, the festival features three previously released cat-themed films — Keegan-Michael Key and Jordan Peele’s comedy “Keanu,” a documentary titled “Kedi” and the animated film “A Cat in Paris.” The festival also features Row House’s original film, “Pittsburgh’s Pretty Kitties,” a feature-length film compilation of cat videos submitted by local cat owners.

“It’s such a good idea,” Starr said, “How much time do we all just spend looking at cat videos?”

For “Pittsburgh’s Pretty Kitties,” Greenawalt sent in a slow-motion video of her cat Schuster leaping off a couch. But she had plenty of cat videos to choose from on her cell phone and couldn’t resist playing a few of them before the movie for Starr, who was sitting beside her.

The film is comprised of more than 160 cat videos and includes cats leaping after wand toys, spinning in circles after their tails and a montage of cats trying to catch dots of light from laser pointers set to the sexy beat of En Vogue’s “My Lovin’ (You’re Never Gonna Get It).”

“Feel free to get loud when your cat comes up on the screen,” a Row House employee announced at the Friday evening showing. “Your cat’s famous. This is legitimately fame right now.”

Cat culture has been on the rise in Pittsburgh.

From cat owners bringing their furry friends out to Schenley Plaza every month for First Caturday to the city’s first-ever cat cafe, Colony Cafe, to the Carnegie Museum of Art’s youth programs mascot, the Art Cat, this cat film festival is just one of many celebrations of feline friends in the city.

The popularity of cats in Pittsburgh may have something to do with their popularity on the in-

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Row House Cinema debuted “Pittsburgh’s Pretty Kitties” — a feature-length film composed of 160 cat videos submitted by local cat owners — during the City’s first-ever Cat Film Festival. Photo courtesy of Casey Taylor ternet. Cats, with their knack for squeezing into almost any impossibly tight space — glass jars, fish bowls, cramped cardboard boxes — have also slipped into endless memes and viral YouTube videos online, luring procrastinators in everywhere with “just one more cat video.”

According to Casey Taylor, the marketing coordinator at Row House Cinema, the film festival was partly inspired by the popularity of cat videos on the internet.

“Internet cat videos are such a big and viral thing these days,” Taylor said. “We wanted to bring that excitement here to Pittsburgh.”

Jedd Hakimi, a graduate student who teaches an introduction to visual culture course at Pitt, said people on the internet are drawn to videos of cats because a cat will do what a cat wants to do, unlike a dog, who can be trained.

“Cats are really hard to manage,” Hakimi said.

“There’s something about capturing cats on camera that has to do with capturing something authentic and something you couldn’t stage.”

Cats just can’t be tamed — they’ll duck into boxes, leap onto high surfaces and sprawl out right in the middle of family games of poker. It’s this spontaneity that makes videos go viral, according to Alison Patterson, a professor who teaches a visual literacy course in Pitt’s film studies department.

“What often fails is when someone tries to produce something for the purpose of a video going viral,” Patterson said. “It has to have a sense of spontaneity or happenstance or serendipity about it.”

Pittsburgh recently had its very own moment of serendipitous online cat fame. A video posted online on July 13 by the Humane Animal Rescue featuring Twerk the Dancing Cat — a then-3-month-old tabby cat who bounces up and down on her paws due to a medical condition — quickly became popular, with over 228,000 views on Facebook.

“When you have a chance to look at a video of a cat who is essentially dancing, it catches your attention,” Sara Garbin, a resident of Penn Hills who fell in love with Twerk’s video and adopted her in July 2017, said.

Twerk has cerebellar hypoplasia, sometimes called wobbly cat syndrome, which causes involuntary tremors and jerky movements. It’s a lifelong but painless condition, and her unusual movements have enchanted viewers far and wide.

“I had been taking a break from work, and stumbled upon the video they had posted,” Garbin said. “I realized that her condition was manageable and I could take care of her.”

To keep fans of Twerk updated, Garbin started a Facebook page for her newly famous cat.

November 14, 2017

“In the initial first couple of months, it was questions and messages and comments just every hour of every day,” Garbin said of the Facebook page.

But Garbin says the attention is worth it, because it gives her a chance to raise awareness about adopting cats with cerebellar hypoplasia.

“I’m grateful Humane Animal Rescue was able to come up with [the video],” Garbin said.

“Hopefully other cats like Twerk are going to be able to find good homes too.”

Even while juggling classes, jobs and extracurriculars, some Pitt students have given good homes to cats of their own while still in school, occasionally indulging in internet cat culture by posting about their cats online.

Emma Oaks, a junior chemistry major, takes care of two animals, a service dog named Aiden and a cat named Annabelle. Since this past August, she and her girlfriend have started separate Instagram accounts for their two furry friends.

“I find a lot of personality in both of my pets, so displaying this personality online is really fun,” Oaks, who says her cat Annabelle is sassy and spoiled like a princess, said.

Having an online presence isn’t just snapping photos of Annabelle curled up on a couch or Aiden bounding around outside the Cathedral. It’s a time commitment, according to Oaks. Oaks said she hopes to make money off her Instagram accounts, thinking if the pages rise in popularity she can run ads and make extra cash to either donate or put toward any pet care needs.

But for Oaks, it’s mostly about getting to share her pets’ sass and spunk with others.

“It’s awesome that you get to share pictures of the things that you love most in your life,” Oaks said. “Everybody loves them, and it makes them happy.”

Even while she’s busy curating her own Instagram accounts, Oaks finds time to scroll past other silly animals on the internet.

“I love it, it’s fun, I’m one of those people who follows like a hundred other [animal] Instagram accounts too, I just love them,” Oaks said. “I love indulging in that culture.”

5

Sports

Narduzzi press conference online

Women’s Basketball

Men’s Basketball

Pitt loses to Montana, Panthers pick up win against Cornell, 51-39 83-78, with record low Pete attendance Trent Leonard Staff Writer

Redshirt junior forward Yacine Diop began the Panthers’ 51-39 victory over Cornell with a layup and a 3-point shot Monday morning.

Thomas Yang | SENIOR STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

Dominic Campbell Staff Writer

The Petersen Events Center was full of kids from surrounding schools ready to watch an exciting game between the Pitt women’s basketball team and Cornell Monday in the ninth annual School Day game. But they instead watched a low-scoring game the Panthers nearly lost.

The Panthers (2-0) etched out a 51-39 win over the Big Red (0-2), with the teams close for most of the game until Pitt pulled away at the end. Both teams had poor shooting days, with Pitt shooting 35 percent and Cornell shooting 24 percent from the field.

“I thought we came out to a good start, scored the first seven points,” head coach Suzie McConnell-Serio said. “Then for some reason the basket got smaller and smaller, and we became tentative and hesitant in taking shots, even if they were wide open looks.”

Redshirt junior forward Yacine Diop quickly got the game going, scoring a layup and a 3-point shot. Junior center Kalista Walters then added a layup, helping Pitt to an early 7-0 lead.

Cornell sophomore guard Danielle Jorgenson was subbed out after turning the ball over

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three times in less than two minutes. Firstyear guard Kate Sramac entered the game and stopped Pitt’s run by scoring four points and grabbing two rebounds. Senior forward Christine Ehland also started off well, adding another four points and giving the Big Red an 8-7 lead at the first media time-out.

Ehland put up four more points — giving her a total of eight — before the quarter ended.

Neither team had much scoring success, with Pitt shooting 5-13 from the floor and Cornell shooting 4-13.

Pitt junior forward Danielle Garven recorded her first points of the game to start the second quarter and sophomore guard Alayna Gribble also added to the score when she hit a layup.

Garven and Gribble scored the only points in the second quarter for the Panthers.

Cornell senior guard Janee Dennis hit a three to make the score 17-14. The remaining 4:11 of the second quarter was scoreless.

While both teams had a hard time scoring in the first quarter, the second was even more difficult. Pitt shot 2-12 in the second quarter and the Big Red shot 1-11 from the field. Pitt also See Women’s on page 7

Entering Monday night’s game, the Pitt men’s basketball team had not lost a home opener since 1996. Kevin Stallings was also the coach during that loss — but for the Panthers’ opponent, Illinois State.

This time, Stallings experienced the defeat from the other side. The Panthers (0-2) committed 19 turnovers in a back-and-forth, 83-78 overtime loss to Montana (2-0) with a record-low crowd watching from the stands.

Only 3,102 fans sat in the Petersen Events Center Monday, the arena’s all-time worst announced attendance for a regular season game, continuing a trend of decreasing attendance at the Pete. For the Grizzlies, the victory marked their first over a Power Five team since 2010.

“Our guys, they play hard, they compete,” Stallings said of his youthful team. “They’re just not able to get it done quite yet.”

First-year center Terrell Brown opened up the game with a layup on the Panthers’ first possession to secure a 2-0 lead. However, Pitt’s offense looked sloppy after that, with four quick turnovers in the first five minutes.

The Grizzlies used Pitt’s offensive miscommunications to their advantage, scoring eight of their first 15 points off Panther turnovers. Turnovers plagued Pitt’s offense for the remainder of the half, and no player was immune — each starter coughed the ball up at least once by the half ’s end.

First year Shamiel Stevenson gave the Panthers some much-needed momentum when he earned an and one on a strong drive to the hoop. On the next possession he attacked the basket again, knocking down one of two free throws to tie the game at 17 apiece.

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Stevenson continued his rhythm, scoring a layup on the next possession for his fifth straight point to give the Panthers a 19-17 lead. Ryan Luther then drained a three and extended the Panthers’ lead to five points.

The offensive explosion prompted a timeout and a clipboard throw from Montana coach Travis DeCuire.

After working the offense and extending the lead to seven, the Panthers’ attack stalled.

Montana redshirt junior Ahmaad Rorie took advantage of Pitt’s lull and knocked down back-to-back 3-pointers to make the score 28-27. He would finish the night with 18 points.

Pitt’s inability to defend the 3-point shot allowed Montana to take a 33-32 lead after hitting treys on four straight possessions.

Rorie and junior Bobby Moorehead mounted the deep-range attack, hitting two apiece.

After conceding two more layups to junior Michael Oguine, the Panthers ended the first half trailing 37-35. Oguine led all Montana players with 13 points, while junior Jared Wilson-Frame led the Panthers with 11 points after the first frame.

First-year guard Khameron Davis opened up the second half with his second 3-pointer of the contest, giving Pitt a 38-37 lead. However, multiple turnovers caused the Panthers to fall behind 43-39 with 17 minutes remaining. Pitt finished the game with 19 turnovers, which resulted in 30 Montana points.

“We didn’t take care of the ball,” Stallings said. “And that resulted in a lot of points for them.”

While the Panther defense continued to allow baskets, Wilson-Frame did all he could to keep the team in the game. Over the next five minutes, he scored the only four See Men’s on page 7

6

Women’s, pg. 6

Men’s, pg. 6 points for the team while Montana took a 48-43 lead.

The back-and-forth momentum picked up with the Panthers going down 51-47, only to go on a 7-0 run spurred by five quick points from redshirt senior guard Jonathan Milligan. Those were his only points of the night, but Milligan was a notable presence for the Panthers on defense, as he constantly harassed the opposing team’s ball-handler.

“If I had to do something different, I would have probably played [Milligan] more throughout the game,” Stallings said.

“He gave us a spark.”

The Panthers appeared poised to take over after Davis drew a charge. Instead, they committed back-to-back turnovers, leading to two breakaway dunks and giving Montana a 61-60 lead.

Oguine continued to plague the Panthers, hitting consecutive threes with two minutes remaining. Oguine then found himself at the free throw line with the game tied. He drained both shots to give Montana a 73-71 lead. The Montana backcourt led the team in scoring — Oguine finished with 29

points and Rorie finished with 18.

“We had trouble with their guards, we knew that was a possibility,” Stallings said.

“Those guys are very quick.”

Stevenson tied the game with 27 seconds left when he cut to the basket for a layup, and after no final scoring success the teams went into overtime at 73-73. Stevenson finished as Pitt’s leading scorer with 19 points.

The five minute overtime period started in Montana’s favor when Rorie scored with a jumper. Luther’s senior leadership was on full display, though, as he scored Pitt’s first four points to answer the Grizzlies.

Trailing 79-77 with 49 seconds left, Stevenson earned a trip to the free throw line with the opportunity to tie the game. He made the first but missed the second, allowing Montana to maintain a one-point lead.

After a missed Pitt shot, Montana made its ensuing free throws to secure an 83-78 victory.

“It’s tough,” Luther said. “But we played hard, and you can expect better from us next time around.”

The Panthers return to the Petersen Events Center Wednesday night for a 7 p.m. game against the University of California, Santa Barbara.

The Pitt news crossword 11/14/17

faltered at the arc, shooting 1-9 in the first half.

With the low scoring, both teams had high rebound totals — 20 for Cornell and 19 for Pitt to end the first half. Diop led the Panthers with six and Garven had four, while first-year forward Elodie Furey and Ehland recorded six each for the Big Red. Neither team found success during the first few minutes of the third quarter, leading Cornell to call a time-out three minutes in. Cornell then scored two points after Gribble fouled Jorgenson and she went to the line for two foul shots.

Walters hit a layup to get the Panthers on board for the second half, and Gribble added two big threes to give the Panthers a 22-20 with 4:35 left in the third quarter. First-year guard Kyla Nelson hit a three as well for the Panthers, scoring her first points of the game.

“When you have a lead and then you lose it, you kind of get down on yourself,” Walters said.

“I think hearing the kids cheer for us ... really helped us and motivated us to do better.”

Cornell had only one bucket in the third quarter with a layup from sophomore guard Samantha Widmann. Pitt and Cornell were tied 25-25 at the end of the third quarter.

Both Diop and Nelson got the fourth quarter started with baskets, giving the Panthers the lead, but the Big Red responded with solid shooting from the free throw line to keep the score 31-28 to the Panthers with 5:55 to go in the fourth.

“We kept pushing,” Diop said. “We just needed to take a deep breath and just play free with no pressure at all. We just did some of our hustle plays and we just ended up playing really well.”

After the time-out, Diop knocked down a jumper then followed with a steal, dropping a nice pass to Jasmine Whitney. Whitney was fouled as she hit the basket, adding to the score with a foul shot. Pitt had three more buckets from Walters, Garven and Whitney to make the game 46-33.

Cornell stepped up its scoring but wasn’t able to make a comeback, giving the Panthers a 51-39 victory.

“It’s one game at a time and [Duquesne is] the next opponent on our schedule,” McConnell-Serio said. “That’s the way we’ll prepare for them, the same way we prepared for the previous two teams and the next teams.”

Pitt will take on Duquesne Thursday, Nov. 16, with tipoff set for 7 p.m. in the Petersen Events Center.

pittnews.com

November 14, 2017

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I N D E X

Rentals & Sublet • NORTH OAKLAND • SOUTH OAKLAND • SHADYSIDE • SQUIRREL HILL • SOUTHSIDE • NORTHSIDE • BLOOMFIELD • ROOMMATES • OTHER

For Rent North Oakland 3,4,6 houses available January and August 2018. Lawn St. Ward St. Call 412-287-5712.

6 or 7 BR House on N. Dithridge St. Available beginning in August 2018. 3 full bathrooms. 2 kitchens.

10 rooms total, on 3 levels, with one bathroom on each level.

Refridgerators, ranges, ovens, dishwashers included. A/C. Washer and dryer in basement. On Pitt and CMU shuttle routes. $3600/month + gas and electric. Owner pays water, sewer, and city garbage collection charges.

Please leave message at 412-372-9185.

South Oakland **AUGUST 2018: Furnished studios, 1,2,3,4 bedroom apartments. No pets.

Non-smokers preferred. 412-621-0457.

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pittnews.com

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2-3-4-5-6-7 bedroom apartments and houses available in May and August 2018. Nice, clean, free laundry, includes exterior maintenance, new appliances, spacious, located on Meyran, Bates, Oakland, Semple, Wellsford, Dawson, Juliet.

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Before signing a lease, be aware that no more than 3 unrelated people can share a single unit. Check property’s compliance with codes. Call City’s Permits, Licensing & Inspections.

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4 BR Home - Semple Street, located near Louisa. Equipped Kitchen, Full Basement. New central air added. Renting for August 2018.

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Apartments for rent.

2,3,4, and 5 bedroom apartments available. Some available on Dawson street, Atwood street, and Mckee Place. Newly remodeled. Some have laundry on site.

Minutes from the University. For more info please call Mike at 412-849-8694 August 2018 rental.

3 BR/1 BA apartment.

2 off-street parking spaces included.

Large storage room.

Wall-wall carpeting, Kitchen w/dishwasher, Washer/Dryer in laundry room. $1800/ month+ utilities.

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Studio, 1Bedroom Apartments, N. & S. Oakland. $725-$850. mjkellyrealty@gmail. com. 412-271-5550. www.mjkellyrealty. com Oakland Ave. - Garden Court Apartments.

Charming 2BR, hardwood floors, free heat. Move in May 1 or Aug. 1, 2018. Call 412-361-2695.

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Move in May 1 or Aug. 1, 2018. Call 412-361-2695

Employment

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Two business days prior by 3pm | Email: advertising@pittnews.com | Phone: 412.648.7978

Services Health Medical and Heart Care, Students Welcome, 155 N. Craig Street, Dean Kross, MD, 412-687-7666

Services Other Busy? Hate doing laundry? Personal laundry for Shadyside, Oakland, and Squirrel Hill. Call Eva 412-334-1743.

Exclusive Discounted Business Class Air to Europe and Worldwide. Also, coach fare for US Travel and Worldwide. I have 35 years experience.

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Call 724-223-0939 or 724-229-8868 any time.

November 14, 2017

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