Recapping the 2014-15 Pitt Women's Basketball Season
4/1/2015 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
2014-15 Season Game Notes | 2014-15 Final Season Statistics
PITTSBURGH -- Exceeding expectations would be an extreme understatement for the University of Pittsburgh women's basketball team, unless you asked the players and coaches.
A 20-12 overall record was highlighted by numerous quality wins along the way, which ended by going toe-to-toe with #6/5 Tennessee on its home court in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.
The Panthers were one of eight teams from the ACC to make the Big Dance after finishing seventh in the regular season with a conference record of 9-7. Not bad for a team that was predicted to finish last in the preseason polls.
Second year head coach Suzie McConnell-Serio resurrected a program that was 3-45 in conference action over the last three years prior to this season. The turnaround was noticed nationally, which resulted in McConnell-Serio being named a semifinalist for the Naismith National Coach of the Year.
McConnell-Serio has now won at least 20 games in six of her eight years as a head coach, with the only two exceptions being the first two years of taking over a new program (2007-08 at Duquesne, 2013-14 at Pitt).
"Our goal was to get to the middle of the pack in the ACC this season," McConnell-Serio said. "We did that, and now we want to continue building towards consistently competing for ACC titles and being in the NCAA Tournament every year."  
You couldn't have written a better script for senior point guard Brianna Kiesel who finished her career as one of the most prolific players in program history. Kiesel started all 122 games of her career and she ranks fifth all-time at Pitt in points (1,938) and assists (433), eighth in steals (198) third in free throw percentage (.795) and third in 3-point field goals made (123). She is also Pitt's career leader in minutes played (4,389). 
Kiesel's outstanding play led to numerous accolades, including: WBCA Region 2 All-America Nominee, Nancy Lieberman Award finalist (Nation's top point guard), First Team All-ACC, All-ACC Defensive Team, All-ACC Academic Team, ACC Player of the Week (Dec. 29) and the recipient of the ACC Postgraduate Scholarship.
In her final game as a Panther, Kiesel scored a career-high 32 points at Tennessee in the NCAA Tournament. She was second in the ACC with 17 games of scoring 20 points or more and ranked in the top-5 of five ACC statistical categories (points -- 18.4, assists -- 4.5, assist/TO ratio -- 2.0, steals -- 2.1, FT percentage -- .837).
The Panthers also received help from four new faces. Graduate student Monica Wignot, a four year Pitt volleyball player, and freshmen Aysia Bugg, Stasha Carey and Yacine Diop were Kiesel's supporting cast and filled the four open vacancies in the starting lineup.  
Wignot was second on the team in scoring (10.0) and third in rebounding (6.4). She tallied 83 blocks on the year, which ranks her second all-time for blocks in a single season. Her 2.7 blocks per game were good for second in the ACC.
The freshman trio also made an immediate impact for the Panthers. Diop (9.4), Carey (9.1) and Bugg (6.0) were third, fourth and fifth on the team in scoring, while Carey (7.7) and Diop (7.2) led the team in rebounding and combined to tally 12 double-doubles (Carey -- 7, Diop -- 5). Bugg was second on the team in assists (75).    
The Panthers gained some recognition when they went on the road and beat Ohio State, 78-74, in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge on Dec 3. The Buckeyes (24-11) would go on to finish third in conference and made it to the Big Ten Tournament title game.
Pitt really turned heads when it defeated #8/6 North Carolina by 25 points at home in the Panthers' second ACC game of the season. Those two wins jump-started a resume that also featured quality victories at home over Miami and Virginia (OT), and road wins at Georgia Tech (OT) and NC State.
On selection Monday, the Panthers were the final at-large team shown and the second-to-last matchup to come across the screen. After 58 minutes of anxiety, the locker room erupted with excitement when Pitt learned it would be participating in its fourth NCAA Tournament in program history.  
VIDEO: Pitt selected to NCAA Tournament: Locker Room Reaction
Not settling for just being in the tournament, the Panthers headed to Knoxville, Tenn., as the No. 10 seed in the Spokane Region and defeated No. 7 seed and 17th-ranked Chattanooga in the first round of the tournament. The win snapped UTC's 25-game winning streak. Stasha Carey had 16 points and 13 rebounds in the win.
VIDEO: Coach McConnell-Serio postgame speech
VIDEO: Highlights -- Pitt defeats Chattanooga, 51-40
Although Pitt never led against Tennessee, on the back of Kiesel, the Panthers erased a 14 point deficit with 4:30 remaining and cut the lead to four with 30 seconds to go. The Lady Vols though, made their free throws down the stretch to ice the game for a 77-67 victory. Kiesel had a career-high 32 points and Yacine Diop added 18 points and nine rebounds.
VIDEO: Brianna Kiesel's 32-point performance vs. Tennessee
Despite losing one of the best to ever play at Pitt, along with the departures of Wignot and fellow senior Cora McManus, the Panthers will add five freshmen to its nucleus of Bugg, Carey and Diop for next season. 
The Panthers will be one of the youngest teams in the country next year, but needless to say, the future is very bright for Pitt basketball.