Pitt women beat Duquesne for bragging rights
There are no players from Pittsburgh on the Pitt women's basketball team, but that didn't keep the Panthers from realizing the importance of the annual City Game.
Pitt (5-1) avenged a five-game losing streak to cross-town rival Duquesne, 82-69, before 1,075 fans Wednesday at Petersen Events Center in the annual rival game.
"This win was personal to our team," Pitt coach Agnus Berenato said. "I am happy for our seniors who had never beaten Duquesne. This team took ownership tonight. I talked to them about the importance of this game, which I didn't realize was so big when I came here three years ago."
Berenato took the Pitt job after being at Georgia Tech so she was not familiar with cross-town Duquesne (2-3). But the Dukes beat her Pitt squad the past two seasons. Players from both teams competed all summer in pickup games at Petersen Events Center.
"These players all know each other now and play against each other," said Berenato, whose team takes on cross-state rival Penn State on Friday at Bryce Jordan Center. "If we want to make a statement and say we are an up-and-coming program then we have to build it within our city."
Duquesne coach Dan Durkin said his team did not deserve to win, especially the way the Dukes played in the second half. He said Pitt outplayed his team in many areas, most specifically in the area of turnovers where Duquesne turned the ball over 17 times and Pitt scored 23 points. Berenato said she was most pleased with point guard Mallorie Winn, who had no turnovers. Durkin said Winn is the player who makes the Pitt team go. She is a tall point guard with an excellent shot and leadership experience, having transferred from Georgia Tech. Winn finished with 13 points and a career-high seven assists. Berenato said Winn was excited about winning this game despite being from San Diego.
"Duquesne is a team we had to beat this year," Winn said. "I have had this game in my mind for a long time. I have not been in Pittsburgh all that long, but I sat on the bench last year, and I remembered how bad that felt to lose."
Opposite of Pitt, six Duquesne players are from Western Pennsylvania, including Albert Gallatin graduate Loui Hall, who led the Dukes with 19 points. Hall said Duquesne had momentum in the first half, but weren't able to transfer that over into the second half.
"We could not get our flow in the second half," Hall said.
Teammate Brittany Warren, a Ringgold graduate, added 13 points and Aiga Bautre scored 11. Bautre hit two quick first-half 3-point baskets but then Winn was assigned to guard Bautre, who only scored three points in the second half and no more 3-point shots. A player who was hot from long range was Pitt freshman guard Maddy Brown. She scored a career-high 21 points and was 5 of 8 from 3-Point range. She made a huge shot at the 13:54 mark of the second half to give Pitt a 50-39 lead. The closest Duquesne would come was nine points at the 16:02 mark. Pitt only led 38-35 at halftime, but Brown's long-range shooting was a big difference.
"The coaching staff gives me confidence to have the green light to shoot," Brown said. "But sometimes I just want to shoot right away, but I tried to get the ball inside first which helped create some open looks for me."
Pitt's inside game was controlled by sophomore center Marcedes Walker, who recorded her first double-double of the season with 19 points and 11 rebounds. Walker said she didn't have a great start because she was thinking too much about last season's loss.
"At first, I was rushing stuff and got rattled but I settled down and tried to just play inside-outside and that helped me get comfortable with the game," Walker said. "That seemed to work out well."
Duquesne guard Carmen Bruce, whose father, Kirk, coached at Pitt, said this is a great rivalry, especially since there is so much familiarity among the players. Bruce finished with seven points and three rebounds.
"This is a great rivalry, and we want to keep it going," Durkin said. "I would love to have it return as a double-header with the Duquesne and Pitt men's teams. I am a throw-back kind of guy when it comes to that. This is such a great rivalry and a natural one."
