Pitt
Duquesne
Pitt Ends Skid Against Duquesne With 82-69 Victory
11/30/2005 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
PITTSBURGH - The Panthers' women's basketball team ended a five-game losing streak to crosstown rival Duquesne on Wednesday night at the Petersen Events Center, downing the Dukes 82-69 to improve to 5-1 on the season.
Freshman Maddy Brown (Honeoye Falls, N.Y./Honeoye Falls-Lima) led four Pitt players in double figures with a season-best 21 points on 7-of-12 shooting. Brown connected on five of her eight three-point attempts and chipped in three rebounds and three assists in 27 minutes of action.
Center Marcedes Walker (Philadelphia, Pa./University City) posted her first double-double of the season and the 10th of her career, pouring in 19 points to go along with 11 rebounds. Pitt led by just three at the half, 38-35, but pulled away in the second frame for the 13-point victory. It was Pitt's first win over Duquesne (2-3) since a 62-57 overtime victory on Jan. 1, 2000, at the Fitzgerald Field House.
The teams started out trading early baskets as the Dukes had a 5-4 advantage, but a 7-0 run by the Panthers over the next minute pushed Pitt in front. Duquesne came right back with a 12-2 run of its own, including two three-pointers by Aiga Bautre, who finished with 11 points. The back-and-forth affair continued as the Panthers scored the next 10 points to take a 23-17 lead. Freshman guard Shavonte Zellous (Orlando, Fla./Jones) scored all six of her points during the 10-0 run.
An 8-2 run by Duquesne followed to tie it up at 25-25, but a three-pointer by Mallorie Winn (San Diego, Calif./Bishop's/Georgia Tech) with 4:41 to go in the first half gave the Panthers the lead it would not relinquish.
Loui Hall scored the first basket of the second half for the Dukes to cut the Pitt lead to one point but that's as close as the visitors would come. The Panthers scored the next nine points, getting five from Brown during the run. Another three-pointer by Brown pushed the lead into double digits at 50-39 and Pitt went up by as many as 21 with just over three minutes remaining.
Hall led the Dukes with 19 points on 7-of-10 shooting, and added seven rebounds, while Brittany Warren went 5-of-7 from the field for 13 points. Winn finished with 13 points, six rebounds and a career-high seven assists in 35 minutes without a turnover, while Big East Rookie of the Week Xenia Stewart (Bowie, Md./Riverdale Baptist) tallied 12 points, seven rebounds and four assists in the win.
The Panthers will travel to University Park, Pa., for a road contest at Penn State on Friday, Dec. 2. Tip-off is at 7:15 p.m. and the game will be broadcast live on CSTV and locally on FSN Pittsburgh. The game can also be heard live on Fox Sports Radio 970 AM, with Greg Linnelli and Jennifer Tuscano calling the action.
NOTES: The Dukes outshot the Panthers, hitting 48.2 percent of their shots against just 41.2 percent for Pitt...Pitt scored 23 points off of 17 Duquesne turnovers, while committing just seven giveaways against the Dukes' defense...the Panthers hit 50 percent of their three-point attempts for the second time this season (9-of-13 for 69.2 percent vs. Akron)...Pitt is now 16-8 vs. Duquesne and 10-2 at home against the Dukes.
