TicketsMarch 4, 2006
, - Marcedes Walker and Mallorie Winn scored 21 points each to lead to a 77-62 win against the of on Saturday night in the first round of the 2006 BIG EAST Women's Basketball Tournament at the .
Freshman Shelly Bellman led UC with 22 points and a career-best six three-pointers. Treasure Humphries and Michelle Jones each scored 13 for the Bearcats, who were making their first appearance in the tournament.
The Panthers shot 61 percent from the floor for the game and led by as many as 15 in the first half before taking a 37-27 lead into the locker room at halftime. The Bearcats had no answer for Walker and Winn, as the pair combined to score 19 points on 8-of-12 shooting in the half.
With Pitt leading by three, a pair of free throws ignited a 12-0 run for the Panthers to give them a 25-10 lead at the 10:21 mark. cut the lead to six, 29-23, with just over three minutes to play, but an 8-4 Pitt run produced the halftime score.
Bellman came out firing in the second half in an attempt to get the Bearcats back into it. After an Anne Stephens layup, Bellman hit three successive three-pointers during an 11-2 run that cut the lead to just four with 16:29 to play.
Winn answered with a jumper to start a 7-0 spurt and extend Pitt's lead to 11. Another Bellman three and a layup by Angel Morgan brought UC to within six at 49-43.
The Bearcats hung around for the next several minutes, twice trimming the Pitt lead to five. The Panthers got the lead back to double-digits with a 7-0 run, capped by a layup by Shavonte Zellous, who scored 13 of her career-high 17 points in the second half.
UC was unable to get closer than eight the rest of the way.
advances to face the No. 3 seed DePaul Blue Demons on Sunday evening. UC will await the announcement of its postseason fate.