2-2-2015

Vol. 105 Issue 104

@thepittnews META MADNESS

Pittnews.com

Monday, February 2, 2015

Oakland abuzz for Super Bowl Sunday Harrison Kaminsky News Editor

The Studio Arts Creative Research Exhibition attracts artistic-minded students with works such as an experimental film by Pitt student Sara Savage. The exhibit is on display until February 6. Nate Smith | Staff Photographer

Brain Power

Pitt hosts all-female computer programming competition Meagan Hart Staff Writer Free from cat calls, sexism or “are you sure you can handle that?”s, Pitt gave female students a safe place to think this weekend, hosting its first all-female computer programming hackathon.

Pitt’s Department of Computer Sciences hosted “She Innovates,” a hackathon, or an event where students meet to collaborate on and then pitch computer programming ideas, over the weekend. “She Innovates” took place from Jan. 31 through Feb. 1 on the fifth floor of Sennott Square. Thirty-seven

students worked on ideas for a mobile app or website that the students thought would be commercially successful. Eight students presented individual ideas at the start of the hackathon, and the remaining 29 students joined in after to further develop the ideas, forming eight teams. At the end of the weekend, the judges awarded first, second and third place positions.

Neha Abraham, event organizer and the President of Women in Computer Science, said it was important that the competition was for women only.

Abraham said computer science has a terrible ratio of male to female rep-

resentation.

According to the National Science Foundation, American Bar Association and the American Association of Medical Colleges, as of last year, only 15 to 20 percent of all computer science majors were women.

According to Abraham, hackathons also tend to be male-dominated.

“Women are often harassed and are expected only to make things “look pretty.” We decided to have a women’s hackathon to give females the chance to

Hackathon

2

Faced with an incoming wave of midterm exams, projects and papers, students put schoolwork on hold to relax for an evening of American football.

Football fans, Pitt coaches and Oakland restaurants chirped away on Twitter about Sunday’s game as well as the accompanying nosh and Super Bowl commercials. With students’ larger-than-average appetites for fast food and football, area restaurants had to hustle to reach the red zone on Super Bowl Sunday.

According to George Nadour, general manager of Larry and Carol’s Pizza on Semple Street, the restaurant receives roughly 160 orders a day.

Yesterday, however, Larry and Carol’s had 275 orders by 8:15 p.m.

The restaurant had nine people on staff for Super Bowl Sunday, while it only requires four people on quieter days.

Nadour said because of the influx of orders, deliveries took up to 45 minutes on Super Bowl Sunday.

Nadour couldn’t comment on how busy the restaurant was in previous years, because of Larry and Carol’s Pizza recently experiencing new ownership.

Jason Collins, a manager at Quaker Steak & Lube’s Oakland restaurant, said if students wanted wings for game day, they would have had to order days ahead.

“We only accepted a certain number of orders every 15 minutes,” Collins said.

According to Collins, the restaurant received roughly the same amount of or-

Super Bowl

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2 FROM PAGE 1

HACKATHON share their ideas in a comfortable environment,” Abraham, a junior majoring in computer science, said.

The participants had about 36 hours, starting Friday night and ending Sunday morning, to research their ideas and propose them to three judges in five-minute-long presentations. During the competition, the groups could either stay at Sennott Square to develop their ideas or leave and work at another location.

The judges scored the presentations based on five main criteria: originality of the idea, usefulness, technical difficulty of the project, polish and market and business potential should the idea actually be implemented.

The judges included Lu Haung, a software engineer at Pittsburgh’s Google branch, Deepal Dhariwal, a software engineer at NetApp and Benjamin Schmidt, chief technology officer at kWantera. After each presentation, the

February 2, 2015 | The Pitt News | www.pittnews.com judges had five minutes to ask questions and make comments.

First place went to “The Defenders,” which is a children’s game that, unlike many other games, doesn’t enforce male and female stereotypes. Instead, this app assigns players either a prince or a princess, and they must save another character. The characters change each time the kids play the game, which means kids will play frequently play with characters of either gender. The game takes place in the Cathedral of Learning and there are 42 levels for the 42 floors. At the end, the character must stand up to a bully to win the game.

“PittFitt,” an app that encourages students to work out by matching workout partners that have similar exercise preferences, won second place. App users enter their schedule, fitness level and gender in order to match up with their workout partners.

The third place prize went to “Park@ Pitt,” an app that would help students know where available parking spots are

Hackathon

FROM PAGE 1

SUPER BOWL

ders as it did for last year’s Super Bowl, but service was more manageable because it did not accept online orders this year.

“It was too overwhelming for online orders last year, so we only did call-ahead and walk-in [orders].”

Jovohn Gavins, assistant manager and supervisor at Quaker Steak and Lube, said sales numbers from last year’s Super Bowl were unavailable and he wouldn’t be able to comment on Sunday’s numbers until closing time, which was after press time.

“It has been a little quieter this year, though,” Gavins said.

The staff at Oakland’s Primanti Bros. location got to work earlier than usual on Sunday to begin preparations for the day.

“We made more chicken wings than we normally do, but we expect it to be pretty quiet tonight actually,” Victoria Petrovych, a staff member in middle management, said.

Go online to Pittnews.com to see more 4 reactions to the big game

“Good Luck in the Super Bowl today @Revis24 Representing the University of Pittsburgh #H2P #NFL #Champion ” @CoachDuzzPittFB “Bet the NFL ad salespeople are puking right now about how fast this game is going.” @shireman

“We like in a world where Mexican avocados have the best Super Bowl commercial in the first half.” @fsmikey

February 2, 2015 | The Pitt News | www.pittnews.com

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4 FROM PAGE 1

HACKATHON open by listing parking garage locations along with prices and hours.

The first, second and third place winners’ prizes included $500 cash that the team can spend on whatever they want, computer science industry gifts and an hour-long mentoring session coordinated by the Innovation Institute.

Julie McConnell, a junior majoring in

February 2, 2015 | The Pitt News | www.pittnews.com engineering, participated in the hackathon and came up with the idea of an app called “Prowl.” The app is meant to spread awareness about the dangers of sexual assault or harassment.

In their presentation, she explained that “Prowl” includes a map where victims can click on the spot where they were assaulted so other people with the app know to avoid the area. The app also includes an emergency call button.

“The idea came from [my own] personal experience and we thought that

it would be extremely helpful on a college campus, where the possibility of being followed or harassed is larger than in other places,” said McConnell.

“I’m proud of what we put together in just 30 hours.”

According to a 2007 study by the U.S. Department of Justice, one in five college women are the victims of attempted or completed sexual assault.

According to the U.S. Department of Justice, for the period from 1995 to 2013, women ages 18-24 (typically

college-aged) had the highest rate of rape and sexual assault compared to women in all other age groups.

McConnell said one of the reasons she joined the competition was because it was only for women.

“I saw Facebook advertising and decided to try it,” McConnell said. “The fact that it is all women is great because it was more welcoming. I also think that the diversity of the ideas here might not have happened if there had been more guys, since many of the ideas had to do with equality or female welfare.”

Women in Computer Science, the Society of Women Engineers, the Department of Computer Science at Pitt and The Innovation Institute hosted the event. National Center for Women and Information Technology and Symantec were the event’s primary organizers.

Sponsors included Google, NetApp, kWantera, ANSYS, GraphicStock, United States Steel and CEI. Laura Fulton, event organizer and co-chair of the Society of Women Engineers, said the event’s initial success was exciting.

“We had so many student volunteers, mentors and participants, and everything ran very smoothly. The companies that we reached out to were also very willing to help out,” Fulton, a sophomore biology and computer engineering major, said.

Students freely provided compliments and questions between the teams, and participants were supportive and interested in each other’s ideas and plans. Long after awards were given, people stayed behind to talk and congratulate the winners and plan how to continue their ideas.

The participants also gave out two awards to their peers. One such award is “Most Philanthropic” which the participants awarded to the app called “Cropsburgh.” “Cropsburgh” connects users with local farmers and farm stands and allows fresh goods to be sent straight to the users, enforcing a healthier lifestyle. In addition to first place, “Most Creative” also went to the “The Defenders.”

“I think everyone learned a lot throughout the past weekend,” McConnell said. “Everyone had great ideas and the competition was very strong.”

February 2, 2015 | The Pitt News | www.pittnews.com

5

OPINIONS

COLUMN

Living in Lothrop: Itʼs not so bad Elias Economou Columnist

Fatima Kizilkaya | Staff Cartoonist

EDITORIAL

Prohibition-style mandates wonʼt curb excessive campus drinking

Whether you participate in it or not, America’s college party scene is a longer-lasting establishment than some of the nation’s universities.

It would be irresponsible not to acknowledge the historically unwavering destructiveness of binge drinking on and off college campuses.

Colleges must attend to problems associated with overconsumption, but strict prohibition of hard liquor on college campuses doesn’t address the root of this problem. Dartmouth College and its president, however, are giving this measure a try.

Dartmouth College, the Ivy League school located in Hanover, N.H., announced this past Thursday that it would prohibit hard liquor on its campus, whether in dormitories or campus events. The announcement comes in the wake of ongoing binge drinking-related incidents on college campuses, including sexual assault, hazing and hospitalizations. For example, last Tuesday, two former Vanderbilt University football players were convicted of raping an unconscious student in a dorm room after a night out in 2013.

Although we should applaud efforts to combat the aforementioned problems, we must consider the ef-

fectiveness of complete prohibition.

History and human nature tells us that merely prohibiting hard liquor may prove counterintuitive to the policy’s intent. If a college prohibits hard liquor on campus, then we can reasonably assume more partying will shift to off-campus locations, which could result in an increase in instances of drunk driving. Additionally, if a student has too much to drink, it is better for a trained RA or RD to find and care for him or her than for the student to be stranded alone off-campus.

Colleges should continue to invest in educational programs to show students how harmful abusing hard liquor can be. Here at Pitt, students complete AlcoholEdu, which teaches students basic facts and laws, before entering their freshman year. The education should not stop there.

Students must be aware of physiological effects, social consequences and the increased dangers of violence stemming from excessive alcoholinduced impairment. Thus, colleges should mandate students to show a proficient understanding of the effects of binge drinking on individuals each year. Although students or observers may look down upon such

programs, if we can teach students just one more fact about alcohol — such as how we metabolize it — students would have a deeper understanding of the dangers excessive drinking of hard liquor can pose to anyone. If this effort saved just one life, we would be successful. Additionally, colleges and universities should actively provide recreational opportunities for students that promote social engagement without alcohol.

In this regard, we applaud Dartmouth College. Philip J. Hanlon, Dartmouth’s president, said that his college will provide alternatives to drinking by building new spaces for social events.

Overall, alcohol use is not drying up, whether on or off college campuses. However, there is more that universities and colleges can do to educate students on the dangers of excessive drinking as well as provide them with social settings removed from the presence of alcohol. Education, not prohibition, is the most effective approach to combating social ills.

Let’s apply this approach to binge drinking so that we may more effectively combat the sexual assault, hazing and hospitalization of college students.

When you inform another Pitt student that your humble abode is actually a Lothrop Hall suite, their resulting look of pity and secondhand embarrassment comes tellingly fast.

Lothrop has its pros and cons, but contrary to popular belief, it ranks among the better Pitt dorms. Often, students consider Lothrop to be boring, isolated and a last choice for on-campus housing. At face value, some would consider this view to be accurate. After all, Lothrop is not apartment- or suite-style, it’s older than other campus housing such as Bouquet Gardens. Sadly, it is also located on a hill. Yet if students looked past these superficial matters and considered life in Lothrop holistically, they’d realize the many positives that come with residing there.

Here, I hope to break the stigma that often comes with living in Lothrop.

Now, it would be a sin for me to describe Lothrop Hall the way Pitt does on the Housing Services website, but it is not nearly as terrible as the campus stereotype makes it out to be.

Housing services describes the residence hall as a “unique residence

facility in the heart of the University of Pittsburgh’s renowned Medical Center ... there is a lounge on every floor as well as a fitness center, laundry room, student mail center and email kiosks in the lobby.”

There is nothing unique about the residence hall. I guess you could say it is situated next to the hospitals, but the entrance to the building is halfway up the hill, so residents rarely pass them. The building itself was built in 1953 and is nothing but an average hall. The tiling is old, but Facilities Management keeps the carpeting clean on the weekdays. There is only one laundry room for the building and residents rarely use the email kiosks.

Each room is carpeted and tiled below the sink area. Each room sports a weirdly designed closet that is deeper than it is wide. Many rooms come with sink, which is. handy because you can avoid taking your toothbrush and toothpaste into the floor bathroom twice a day. You also don’t have to worry about whether or not the sink is clean. Each room also comes with the standard wooden bed, desk, dresser and desk chair.

Economou

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February 2, 2015 | The Pitt News | www.pittnews.com

FROM PAGE 5

ECONOMOU Each room has three windows, one of which opens halfway. For students who live on campus, this does not sound like anything different from any other building on Pitt’s campus.

But this is a shallow view. Lothrop is only a few blocks away from everything on campus. My longest walk is to Bellefield Hall, about eight minutes, for

THE PITT NEWS Natalie Daher Editor-in-Chief editor@pittnews.com

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Stephen Caruso, Layout Editor tpnlayout@gmail.com

a geology lecture. It’s not far from the Peterson Events Center, you’re right off of Fifth avenue, a street with many restaurants and stores on it.

Perhaps the best aspect of living in Lothrop is having your own room. Singles are great because they offer a place for stu-

dents to study and complete their work or hang out with their door open.

This is far more important for a student’s success than how new the building is. You can get to sleep whenever you’d like, not having to worry about loud roommates or conflicting time sched-

“Perhaps the best aspect of living in Lothrop is having your own room.”

E S T A B L I S HE D 1 9 1 0

Danielle Fox, Managing Editor manager@pittnews.com

Abbey Reighard, Assistant News Editor Dale Shoemaker, Assistant News Editor Courtney Linder, Assistant Opinions Editor Dan Sostek, Assistant Sports Editor Jeff Ahearn, Assistant Visual Editor Mason Lazarcheff, Multimedia Editor David Gardner, Social Media Editor Sam McGinley, Assistant Copy Chief Emily Hower, Assistant Layout Editor

Copy Staff

Sarah Choflet Anjuli Das Kinley Gillette Johanna Helba Emily Maccia

Bridget Montgomery Sarah Mejia Michelle Reagle Megan Zagorski

ules.

So, I advise every Pitt student to look at Lothrop Hall as it deserves to be seen — in a positive light.

Hopefully, Pitt students will remember the positives of Lothrop Hall when considering housing options. It may not be a new apartment complex, but I’d always take my University single over some of South Oakland’s crumbling options.

Elias primarily writes about campus issues and economics for The Pitt News.

Write to Elias at epe1@pitt.edu.

Editorial Policies Single copies of The Pitt News are free and available at newsstands around campus. Additional copies can be purchased with permission of the editor in chief for $.50 each.

Opinions expressed herein are not necessarily those of the students, faculty or University administration. Opinions expressed in columns,- car toons and letters are not necessarily those of The Pitt News. Any letter - in tended for publication must be addressed to the editor, be no more than 250 words and include the writer’s name, phone number and University affiliation, if any. Letters may be sent via e-mail to letters@pittnews.com. The Pitt News reserves the right to edit any and all letters. In the event of multiple replies to an issue, The Pitt News may print one letter that represents the majority of responses. Unsigned editorials are a majority opinion of the Editorial Board, listed to the left.

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Complaints concerning coverage by The Pitt News, after first being brought to the editors, may be referred to the Community Relations -Com mittee, Pitt News Advisory Board, c/o student media adviser, 435 William Pitt Union, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pa. 15260.

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February 2, 2015 | The Pitt News | www.pittnews.com

7

SPORTS

MEN’S BASKETBALL

WOMEN’S BASKETBALL

Pitt win keeps NCAA tourney hopes alive

ALL ABOUT THE ‘W’ Welch scores 12 points off bench as Pitt handles Miami

Dan Sostek Assistant Sports Editor A few eyebrows raised after Pitt’s men’s basketball team triumphed over No. 8 Notre Dame on Saturday. Yet, a bold prediction from Fighting Irish’s head coach Mike Brey was the real surprise of the night.

“They’re an NCAA tournament team,” Brey said of Pitt at his postgame press conference. “I know they had a couple tough [losses], but I think they’re going to be in the NCAA tournament when it’s all said and done.”

Pitt head coach Jamie Dixon wasn’t as committal when discussing his team’s tournament hopes, focusing instead on how he views his squad.

“I think we’re a good team,” Dixon said following the team’s 13th victory over a top-10 opponent at the Petersen Events Center. “We’ve had to make some adjustments ... We lost some tough games ... We can’t do anything about the past. We’ve got to move forward.”

Despite the impressive home victory against an opponent of Notre Dame’s quality, “moving forward” for the Panthers might not be so easy if the team has aspirations of earning a tournament bid in March.

Pitt already has its fair share of blemishes on this season’s resumé. Most recently, there was the overtime loss to Virginia Tech – which, at the time, was 0-6 in the ACC – where the Panthers squandered late leads in both regulation and overtime to fall to a weak Hokies team.

M Hoops

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CHELSEA WELCH (RIGHT) TAKES A JUMPER AGAINST MIAMI. NATE SMITH | STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

Jeremy Tepper Staff Writer In their last game, the Pitt women’s basketball team dug itself into a deep hole early, quickly trailing Duke 19-8.

Learning from their mistakes, Chelsea Welch and the Panthers came out aggressive this weekend.

The team used several scoring runs on Sunday, including one from the start of the game, to solidify a win over ACC foe Miami at the Petersen Events Center.

The Panthers delivered the first blow against the Hurricanes, gaining a 10-4 lead in the first three and a half minutes. Though Miami only trailed 37-32 at the half, Pitt used a 12-2 run to open the second half to build up a lead that it would not relinquish.

This time, the Hurricanes could not deliver a counter punch, as Pitt defeated Miami (15-6, 5-3 ACC) by a score of 81-66 to improve to 14-7 and 4-4 in the ACC. Pitt head coach Suzie McConnell-Serio noted that it was a big boost for her team to

strike first in both halves.

“To be able to execute the way we did against the man defense, hit shots, it was a great start in both halves,” McConnell-Serio said. “That’s what we were talking about — coming out of the locker room when we had possession of the ball, we were looking to strike first.”

Freshman forward Stasha Carey and Welch — two players who were in recent slumps — led Pitt’s offense along with the usual suspects, Brianna Kiesel and Monica Wignot.

In her previous three games, Welch was scoreless in 35 minutes total. Today, she accumulated 12 points off a of 3-5 shooting, and shot 3-3 from beyond the arc in 26 minutes of play.

“It’s finally good to play hard, and it’s all working out,” the sophomore guard said.

Welch’s offense was key in igniting Pitt’s play, as she provided quality minutes from a reserve role.

“Chelsea [Welch] was tremendous off the bench today,” McConnell-Serio said. “Hitting three threes, she did a great job defensively,

staying in plays, handling the basketball when they started picking up their pressure. She was really a spark for us.”

Along with Welch, Carey had also been slumping, scoring eight points and shooting 3-15 in her last two games. She put an end to that slump on Sunday, scoring 14 points, grabbing six rebounds and blocking five shots.

Carey’s shot blocking and Wignot’s post defense — the graduate student recorded five blocks as well — made it extremely difficult for Miami to score in the paint.

Perimeter defense efforts from guard Aysia Bugg and forward Yacine Diop, both freshmen, were also pivotal in limiting Miami’s offense.

For most of the game, sophomore guard Adrienne Motley — Miami’s leading scorer at 16.6 points per game entering Sunday — struggled to find open looks. Motley finished with 17 points on 7-17 shooting, though many came late when the game was beyond reach.

“We started with Aysia Bugg on her just because of the size of their other players, just to

W Hoops

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February 2, 2015 | The Pitt News | www.pittnews.com

Pitt alums loom large at NFL Honors Two former Pitt football players won notable awards during the NFL Honors ceremony on Saturday night. Arizona Cardinals wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald (Pitt 2002-03) and St. Louis Rams rookie defensive tackle Aaron Donald (2010-13) were both recognized.

TNS

Larry Fitzgerald Art Rooney Award

This was the first year that the NFL Honors gave out the Art Rooney Award, which is meant to recognize a player who demonstrates sportsmanship and integrity on the field. Players around the league voted for Fitzgerald to take home this honor.

The NFL Foundation will also give Fitzgerald $25,000 to donate to the charity of his choice.

The award is named after the late founder of the Pittsburgh Steelers, Art Rooney Sr.

Aaron Donald

TNS

Defensive Rookie of the Year

Donald, who made his first career Pro Bowl appearance this season, won this award, which recognizes the top first-year defensive player in the league.

The Rams drafted Donald with the No. 13 overall pick in the 2014 NFL Draft. The defensive end finished the season with 47 tackles, nine sacks and two forced fumbles.

FROM PAGE 7

W HOOPS try to shadow her, chase her hard off screens.

We were hedging on ball screens by her post players when she was involved in the on-ball screens,” McConnell-Serio said.

Kiesel echoed those sentiments, though she also added that she and her teammates were effective in denying Motley the ball.

“Just trying to limit her touches, trying to make them as tough as possible, and I think Aysia [Bugg], as well as Yacine [Diop], did a really good job on her,” Kiesel said.

Kiesel, a senior guard and Pitt’s leading scorer, once again played a substantial part in Pitt’s offensive success. Kiesel accumulated

23 points — including shooting 10-10 on free throws — with six rebounds and seven assists.

Wignot scored 15.

In total, Pitt shot 24-58 from the field, 9-24 from three and 24-28 from the free throw line against a team that was only giving up 56.1 points, 29th in the country, going into the game. Kiesel said that Pitt’s ability to mix buckets in the paint and from the perimeter led to the team’s offensive success.

“It was inside out. We definitely hit some outside shots in the second half, but we also were able to get into the paint and get some good buckets,” Kiesel said.

McConnell-Serio pointed to other aspects as vital for her team’s offense.

W Hoops

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February 2, 2015 | The Pitt News | www.pittnews.com FROM PAGE 7

M HOOPS

The Pitt News Crossword, 2/2/2015

There was also the home loss to Clemson, a lower-tier ACC team that — despite wins against Syracuse and NC State — will in all likelihood end up being a black mark for Pitt come Selection Sunday.

The win against Notre Dame should help repair some of the shaken faith from those two losses, but it will still not erase the damage the losses did to the Panthers’

ACROSS 1 Ray Charles’ genre 6 “Thank God” day: Abbr.

9 Swedish autos 14 Borden mascot 15 Cereal grain 16 Come from behind 17 Teen’s budding facial hair, informally 19 Place for a perm 20 One of many in a Lipton bag 22 Home buyer’s debt: Abbr.

23 Ceases 26 Sister of Rachel 28 Distributes by shares 29 Group nickname for Ringwald, Sheedy, Lowe, Estevez et al.

33 “Let’s go!”

34 Name of 18 French kings 35 “Toto, __?”: Dorothy 36 Caviar, e.g.

37 Country-drive view 39 Jam holder 40 Nonprofit URL ending 41 Carpentry bit 42 Uncommon 43 Next-door resident 45 Gabor with an echoic name 47 Florida State player, for short 48 Native 49 Living room piece 51 “No chance of that happening!”

54 Relax, in slang 56 Speculation leading up to a February 22 awards extravaganza 60 Open, as a jacket 61 Tex. clock setting 62 Theater offering 63 Takes a nap 64 Fancy carp 65 Former Steeler star Lynn __, who ran for governor of Pennsylvania in 2006

potential for a tournament bid.

Pitt still has many opportunities to stockpile “good wins,” but herein lies the problem — the next stretch of games will be brutal for the Panthers. After Monday’s game against Bryant University, Pitt plays Syracuse (twice), Louisville, Virginia and UNC, with three of those five games on the road.

With the remainder of the schedule against middling competition, this fivegame span will be a crucial determining factor in whether or not Pitt sits pretty on

2/16/15

By Garry Morse

DOWN 1 Sales agent 2 Bass brew 3 Govt. intel org.

4 Style of wording 5 Command 6 Hoops ref’s calls 7 Demolish, as a building 8 Chichén __ 9 Yearbook sect.

10 Road travel org. freebie 11 Semiautobiographical 1979 Fosse film 12 Opinion website 13 “Auld Lang __” 18 Pool legend Minnesota __ 21 Natural aptitude 23 Wrinkle-resistant synthetic 24 Author Leonard 25 Bubbly plumflavored drink 27 Online market for handmade crafts 29 Dumb mistake 30 Penitent sort 31 Like a woodworker’s rasp 32 Seoul native 34 Toy block brand

Saturday’s Puzzle Solved

©2015 Tribune Content Agency, LLC

37 Humorist Mort who wrote jokes for Kennedy 38 To the third power 42 Colorful postcloudburst phenomenon 44 Hockey mask wearer 45 Alcopop brand 46 Hurricanes, e.g.

48 Spiny desert plants

2/16/15

49 Gulf War missile 50 “Don’t tell me!”

52 Relax on a porch chair, perhaps 53 Standard Oil brand 55 Hi-fi platters 57 Charlottesville sch.

58 Red or blush wine, familiarly 59 Buddhist sect

Selection Sunday.

As of now, the Panthers have had only one road win all season. The remaining road game slate of Louisville, Virginia, Syracuse, Wake Forest and Florida State leaves only the first three of those as potential ways to bolster the team’s credentials. If Pitt can’t steal an impressive road victory, the possibility of a tournament berth will all but vanish without a deep run in the ACC tournament after the regular season.

Of course, the conference tournament in Greensboro, N.C., is the Panthers’ final opportunity to win some favor from the selection committee. But with Pitt likely missing out on a double-bye — and potentially missing out on a single-bye as well — the road to an ACC championship run would be a long, uphill battle for the Panthers.

Crazier things have happened. It would be foolish to doubt that Dixon, a 300-win accomplished coach, could figure things out and get his team on a roll.

But with the challenging schedule Dixon and the Panthers face moving forward, Saturday’s win against Notre Dame needs to be the start of some positive momentum, not an outlier.

9 FROM PAGE 8

W HOOPS “I think that was a key against this defense — that we were able to get to the free throw line. We didn’t turn it over and were able to knock down free throws,” she said.

Against a team that thrives on causing turnovers, the Panthers coughed the ball up only eight times. And when Miami turned up its defensive pressure, it managed to hold on to the ball and make shots.

Nobody on the team could deny that Sunday’s game was a quality win against a team that’s received votes in the USA Today Coaches Poll three weeks in a row, proving that some voters thought the Hurricanes were good enough to be considered one of the 25 best teams in the country.

A win against such a team boosts the Panthers’ NCAA tournament resumé. Kiesel, though, isn’t thinking about Pitt’s tournament hopes.

“I don’t know how the committee thinks,” Kiesel said. “Every win is a good win. Every win that we go in and get just makes the season so much more fun.”