Women's Basketball To Compete in Caribbean Classic This Week
12/19/2011 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Dec. 19, 2011
Game Notes/Indiana Notes/Michigan State Notes/Radio Broadcast
GAMES 11 &12: PITT (5-5) VS. Indiana/Michigan State
Caribbean Classic, Cancun, Mexico
Moon Palace
Tuesday, Dec. 20 (vs. Hoosiers (3-7) 1 p.m. EST) and Wednesday, Dec. 21 (vs. Spartans (7-4) 3:30 p.m. EST)
On the Air (Radio): WJAS, 1320 AM - Scott Stiller/ Jennifer Tuscano
Live Stats: www.pittsburghpanthers.com
Series Info: Pitt trails Indiana, 3-4
Home: 2-1 Away: 0-2 Neutral: 1-1
Current Streak: Indiana W2
first meeting since 1983
Series Info: Pitt leads Michigan State, 2-0
Home: 1-0 Away: 1-0
Current Streak: Pitt W2
first meeting since 1980
Versus Big Ten: Pitt is 26-46 all-time.
Storylines & Notables:
• Pitt has six players averaging more than 20 minutes a game and 10 of the 11 on the active roster are logging 13 or more minutes.
• Only three players have started all 10 games: Brianna Kiesel, Abby Dowd and Kyra Dunn.
• Pitt is 18-3 under head coach Agnus Berenato in regular season tournaments.
Series Info
Pitt is facing off with Indiana for the eighth time in program history. Indiana holds a 4-3 lead in head-to-head showdowns, but the teams have not met since 1983. The series is tied at 1-1 on a neutral court and the Hooisers have won the past two-straight showdowns.
Pitt Versus Indiana
INDIANA LEADS 4-3
At Pittsburgh: Pittsburgh leads 2-1
At Bloomington: Indiana leads 2-0
At Neutral Sites: Series tied 1-1
Current Streak: Indiana — 2
Most Pittsburgh Points: 70 (70-65) in 1980-81
Most Indiana Points: 69 (69-59) 1981-82
Biggest Pittsburgh Win: 26 (62-36) in 1978-79
Biggest Indiana Win: 10, twice
Dec. 8, 1978 ............ H • ............. W ..............62-36
Dec. 22, 1979 ........ N •• ............ L ................56-66
Feb. 3, 1980 ............ A................. L ................47-53
Dec. 13, 1980 ........ H ................ W ..............70-65
Dec. 19, 1980 ........ N •• ............ W ..............64-63
Jan. 20, 1982 ......... A................. L ................59-69
Nov. 26, 1983 ......... H ................ L ................63-65
• Pitt Tournament
•• Carolina Christmas Classic (Chapel Hill, NC)
Pitt holds a 2-0 lead in head-to-head meetings with Michigan State. The teams have not met, however, in more than 30 years. The Panthers and Spartans met in back-to-back seasons in 1978-79 and 1979-80. Pitt posted a 55-52 win on Jan. 20, 1979 at home and a 78-56 road victory on Jan. 18, 1980.
Pitt Versus Michigan State
PITTSBURGH LEADS 2-0
At Pittsburgh: Pittsburgh leads 1-0
At East Lansing: Pittsburgh leads 1-0
At Neutral Sites: n/a
Current Streak: Pittsburgh — 2
Most Pittsburgh Points: 78 (78-56) in 1979-80
Most Michigan State Points: 56 (78-56) in 1979-80
Biggest Pittsburgh Win: 22 (78-56) in 1979-80
Biggest Michigan State Win: n/a
Jan. 20, 1979 ......... H ................ W ..............55-52
Jan. 18, 1980 ......... A................. W ..............78-56
About Indiana
The Hooisers have dropped six of their last seven games, moving to 3-7 on the season with a 60-59 loss to NIU on Saturday night at Assembly Hall on the Indiana campus.
Junior guard Jasmine McGhee is the only player to have started all 10 games. She is one of two players averaging double figures at 13.5 per game. Junior forward Aulani Sinclair is averaging 12.5 points a game, having drained 18 of the team’s 31 total three-pointers. Much like Pitt, six players are averaging 20 or more minutes a contest – and eight are logging 14.5 or more.
IU head coach Felisha Legette-Jack is familiar with the Big East, having graduated from Syracuse in1989. She also served as assistant at her alma mater (and in her hometown) from 1993-00.
About Michigan State
The Spartans are coming off a 61-53 loss at No.24 Texas on Dec. 10 in Austin, Texas. Senior Lykendra Johnson joined the program’s 1,000 point list and is one of just five players in MSU history to compile more than 1,000 points and 800 rebounds over a career.
Johnson leads the team and is 24th in the country in rebounds, averaging 10.1 per game. Only one MSU player is averaging double figures, reserve guard Porsche Poole (12.3 ppg). One of the most telling statistical notes in MSU’s win and losses is its free throw numbers -averaging 21.0 free throw attempts in wins and just 9.5 in set-backs.
The Spartans started the 2011-12 season against a team from the Big East, falling to Villanova (64-75) on Nov. 11. The game was played at Iona College. Freshman guard Kiana Johnson is a graduate of Whitney Young in Chicago - the same high school of Pitt redshirt sophomore Ashlee Anderson.
Tourney Time
Pitt is 18-3 under head coach Agnus Berenato in regular season tournaments. The Panthers participated in at least one regular season classic each season from 2004-05 until 2008-09, including hosting its own Thanksgiving event twice. They did not make showings in any regular season tourneys in 2003-04 (Coach Berenato’s first season) and in 2009-10.
The furthest mid-season affairs were during the 2006- 07 season when the Panthers played in the Duck Classic in Eugene, Oregon (over Thanksgiving) and in ironically in the Caribbean Classic in Cancun, Mexico. Coincidently, that was the last tournament game (outside of NCAA and NIT postseason play) that the Panthers dropped - a 72-51 loss to Duke in Mexico on Dec. 21, 2006 - prior to last season’s loss in to Las Vegas Classic to Texas Tech.
Outside the U.S.
Pitt is 3-2 when playing outside of the United States. Pitt was 1-1 at the Torneo Cancun de Basquetbol in Cancun during the 2011-02 season and went 2-1 at the Caribbean Classic in the 2006-07 campaign, beating East Carolina (70-53) and Liberty (54-47) before falling to Duke (51-72).
Road Work
The journey to Cancun is just the second road trip of the season for the Panthers. Eight of the Panthers first 10 games were at their homes confines – the Petersen Events Center. Pitt is 0-2 in road games this season.
PItt will face not one, but two members of the Big Ten conference in the two-game tournament. The Panthers are 26-46 all-time versus the league. Most of those meetings have occurred against state rival Penn State - 40 of the 72. Pitt last faced a member school in the Big Ten last season - dropping a 73-63 decision at Minnesota.
PITT VERSUS BIG TEN
Illinois never net
Indiana 3-4
Iowa 0-1
Michigan 2-1
Michigan State 2-0
Minnesota 0-1
Nebraska never met
Northwestern 2-1
Ohio State 2-10
Penn State 13-27
Purdue 1-0
Wisconsin 1-1