Pitt can't contain joy
SPOKANE, Wash. — Coach Agnus Berenato and her Pittsburgh Panthers are enjoying the first regional semifinals berth in school history, even if it's a short appearance with a matchup against Stanford on Saturday night.
"We got here because our team believed in us and we believed in our team," Berenato said. "And I think any time you have blind faith, anything is possible."
Sixth-seeded Pittsburgh (24-10) will face the No. 2 seed Cardinal (32-3) in Saturday night's late game. In the early matchup, top-seeded Maryland (32-3) faces No. 4 seed Vanderbilt (25-8) and SlipperyRock High graduate Jence Rhoads, a freshman guard for the Commodores.
Reaching the round of 16 is just another accomplishment for Berenato in her fifth season at Pitt. She was 6-20 in her first season, then 13 wins in 2005, 22 wins in 2006, and the past two seasons getting a school-record 24 victories each year.
Along with those jumps in victories came confidence that Pitt deserved recognition as a regular NCAA tournament participant. Berenato was so confident heading to last week's first- and second-round games in Albuquerque, N.M., that she told her players and coaches to pack enough clothes to be away from home for more than week, planning to go straight from New Mexico to Spokane.
Baylor in the second round, the Panthers recognized their accomplishment, but not with an overwhelming celebration.
Following a team dinner, it was back to preparation for the Cardinal and star Candice Wiggins, who scored 44 points in Stanford's second-round win over UTEP.
"We're very, very happy, but you know, we are here to win," Berenato said. "We feel like we can compete with Stanford."
Berenato's personality and attitude has rubbed off on many of her players, although they sometimes think their coach is a little over the top.
"She's crazy," Marcedes Walker said with a smile.
"Right now, she's uppity up because we're in the Sweet 16. But we all love her for that," Shavonte Zellous said.
Added Mallorie Winn, "She does drink a lot of coffee in the morning."
Berenato's probably downed a lot of coffee trying to figure out how to slow down Wiggins.
And if Wiggins isn't enough, there's talented center Jayne Appel to worry about.
