University of Pittsburgh Athletics
Panthers Bow to Bearcats in WNIT
3/15/2000 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Panthers Bow to Bearcats in WNIT
3/15/2000
PITTSBURGH - The Pittsburgh women's basketball team could not overcome a 32-point effort from Cincinnati's Madinah Slaise and a 13-point halftime deficit as it fell, 76-60, to the Bearcats in the first round of the Women's National Invitation Tournament March 16 at Fitzgerald Field House.
The contest marked Pittsburgh's first postseason berth in six years and concluded an impressive season in which the Panthers finished with a 16-13 overall record, their best since the 1994-95 season.
The Panthers held their only lead of the game, 4-2, at the 16:18 mark after a Mandy Wittenmyer (Mechanicsburg, Pa./Cumberland Valley) jump shot. But Cincinnati used a 19-4 run fueled by Slaise's 10 points over the next seven minutes to stifle the Panthers and jump to a 21-8 advantage by 9:47. Cincinnati continued to hold the Panthers, and Pittsburgh's next field goal did not fall until junior Monique Toney (Yorba Linda, Calif./Cerritos Valley Christian) sank a jumper with 8:07 remaining in the half to bring the score to 24-12. Celeste Barkley's (Rochester, N.Y./Penfield) free throw at 6:52 cut the Panthers' deficit to nine (26-17) but they would come no closer. Cincinnati responded with an 8-2 run and closed the half with a 38-25 lead.
The Bearcats continued their momentum in the second half. A 9-4 Pittsburgh run capped by Gina Montesano's (Rochester, N.Y./Mercy) 3-pointer at 12:45 brought the score within 10 (53-43), but that was as close as it could get.
Wittenmyer led Pittsburgh with 18 points and 12 rebounds to mark her ninth double-double of the season. Montesano was the only other Panther to score in double figures with 14 points. Freshman Laine Selwyn (Coral Springs, Fla./Coral Springs) added another nine and Toney chipped in eight.
