Thursday, March 16, 2000
UC women open NIT at Pitt
Panthers beat UC at buzzer in first meeting
BY MARK SCHMETZER
Enquirer contributor
University of Cincinnati women's basketball coach Laurie Pirtle wanted to make a habit of reaching postseason play. With three consecutive postseason trips, she has made that goal a reality.
Pirtle's 17-12 Bearcats open play in the Women's National Invitation Tournament (WNIT) at 7 p.m. today against the 16-12 Pittsburgh Panthers at Pitt's Fitzgerald Fieldhouse.
If UC wins, it meets the winner of the Villanova-Michigan State game at 6 p.m. Saturday at the Shoemaker Center. Admission to that second-round game would be free.
The Bearcats took a five-game winning streak into the Conference USA tournament, where they beat Houston in the first round and lost to Tulane in the second. Pirtle appreciates the opportunity to extend the season by participating in the 32-team WNIT.
“This is very advantageous in many ways,” Pirtle said before the Bearcats left for Pittsburgh Wednesday morning. “One is the longer you play and the deeper into March you go, the more weeks of experience you get. This is the time when kids mature quickly.
“This also is something the team earns. It's not like participating in Midnight Madness at the start of the season, which you qualify for just by being on the team. You have to earn March Madness. We want to have a tradition of getting into postseason play every year. We talked about that all year. That's been an energy source for us.”
The Panthers, who beat UC 58-55 in November, enjoyed the biggest one-year turnaround in the program's history after going 8-19 last season.
They feature freshman forward Mandy Wittenmyer, who was named to the Big East's All-Rookie team after leading Pitt in scoring and rebounding.
“She's a heck of a player,” Pirtle said. “They matured a lot from the start of the season.”
Missing from the Pitt team are two Greater Cincinnati players Senior center Nickeia Morris, a 6-foot-7 Western Hills product who compiled 45 blocks in 19 games, no longer is on the roster, Pirtle said.
Freshman forward Dallas Williams, who played at Mason, played in 24 games and started 13 before suffering an injury to an anterior cruciate ligament.
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