Pittsburgh Panthers women's basketball is the NCAA Division I intercollegiate women's basketball program of the University of Pittsburgh, often referred to as "Pitt", located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The Pittsburgh women's basketball team competes in the Atlantic Coast Conference and play their home games in the Petersen Events Center. The university first sponsored women's basketball at the varsity level in 1914. The team appeared in five straight national post-season tournaments between 2006 and 2010.

History

Women's intercollegiate varsity basketball at the University of Pittsburgh began during the 1914–1915The Owl, 1916, University of Pittsburgh, pg. 314 season and found early success in 1926–1927, after which it was disbanded in favor of intramural sports programs. Varsity basketball for women was reinstated during the 1970–1971 season. Although participants were awarded varsity letters and competed intercollegiately, the program was not taken over by the Athletic Department until the 1974–1975 season. During the 1970s, the team earned several EAIAW regional tournament appearances. The team began competing in the Big East Conference in 1982, and the Panthers won the Big East regular season championship in 1984. Pittsburgh appeared in the National Women's Invitational Tournament in 1981 and 1994 as well as the Women's National Invitation Tournament in 2000 and 2006 before earning its first ever NCAA tournament appearance in 2007, where they advanced to the second round before losing to eventual national champion Tennessee. The Panthers advanced to the Sweet Sixteen in 2008 and 2009,2006–07 Pitt Women's Basketball Media Guide, University of Pittsburgh and made their fifth straight post-season tournament appearance in the WNIT in 2010. On April 12, 2013, the program hired Suzie McConnell-Serio to replace Berenato as head coach. Pittsburgh moved to the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) beginning with the 2013–14 season.

Postseason results

NCAA Division I Pittsburgh has appeared in the NCAA tournament four times. They have a record of 6–4. 2007 #8 First RoundSecond Round James MadisonTennessee W 71–61L 54–682008 #6 First RoundSecond RoundSweet Sixteen WyomingBaylorStanford W 63–58W 67–59L 53–722009 #4 First RoundSecond RoundSweet Sixteen MontanaGonzagaOklahoma W 64–35W 65–60L 59–702015#10 First RoundSecond Round ChattanoogaTennessee W 51–40L 67–77

NWIT NWIT and WNIT (5): 1981, 1994, 2000, 2006, 2010 Pittsburgh was the NWIT Consolation Winner in 1981 (5th place), won the NWIT Third Place game in 1994, and reached the WNIT "Final Four" in 2006.

AIAW EAIAW regional championship tournaments (6): 1976, 1977, 1978, 1979, 1980, 1981

Honors

All Americans Jennifer Bruce, 1984–85 WBCA All-District All-American Lorri Johnson, 1990–91 WBCA All-District All-American Jonna Huemrich, 1993–94 Honorable Mention All-American Marcedes Walker, 2006–07 WBCA District I All-American Marcedes Walker, 2007–08 WBCA District I All-American Shavonte Zellous, 2008–09 AP Third Team All-American and WBCA Region I All-American

Academic All-Americans Pam Miklasevich, 1981 College Sports Information Directors of America

Conference honors Jennifer Bruce won Big East Player of the Year in 1984. Judy Saurer won Big East Coach of the Year in 1984. Jonna Huemrich won Big East Rookie of the Year in 1991. Traci Waites won Big East Coach of the Year in 2000. Shavonte Zellous won Big East Most Improved Player in 2007. Liatu King won ACC Most Improved Player in 2024.

Points club 22 total Panther players have achieved the 1,000 points club, with three scoring over 2,000 points.

Lorri Johnson, 1987–91; 2,312 points, 20.5 PPG Jennifer Bruce, 1981–85; 2,295 points, 20.5 PPG Shavonte Zellous, 2005–09; 2,251 points, 16.9 PPG Debbie Lewis, 1977–82; 1,941 points, 15.4 PPG Brianna Kissel, 2011–2015; 1938 points, 15.9 PPG Mercedes Walker, 2004–08; 1,870 points, 15.0 PPG Jonna Huemrich, 1990–94; 1,807 points, 15.6 PPG Pam Miklasevich, 1979–83; 1,637 points, 16.0 PPG Wanda Randolph, 1976–79; 1,479 points, 19.0 PPG Taneisha Harrison, 2007–2011; 1,372 points, 10.6 PPG Laine Selwyn, 1999–2003; 1,344 points, 12.1 PPG Xenia Stewart, 2005–2009; 1,330 points, 10.1 PPG Latia Howard, 1994–97; 1,155 points, 13.1 PPG Mandy Wittenmyer, 1999–2003; 1,152 points, 12.0 PPG Brooke Stewart, 1999–2003; 1,114 points, 10.0 PPG Connie Hurt, 1987–91; 1,103 points, 10.5 PPG Jania Sims, 2006–2011; 1,097, 10.1 PPG Yacine Diop, 2014–18; 1,093 points, 11.5 PPG Dayshanette Harris, 2019–2023; 1085, 10.6 PPG Jennifer Shingler, 1986–90; 1,081 points, 10.0 PPG Liatu King, 2020–2024; 1073 points, 10.5 PPG (through 2/18/24) Mallorie Winn*, 2002–2008; 1,028 points, 9.9 PPG * Winn played at Georgia Tech from 2002 to 2004 prior to transferring to Pitt. She scored 812 of her 1,028 career points at Pitt. PPG = points per game

WNBA The following former Pittsburgh basketball players have or are currently playing in the WNBA. Laine Selwyn, Indiana Fever, 2008 Marcedes Walker, Houston Comets, 2008 Shavonte Zellous, Detroit Shock, 2009–2021

Draft The following players were selected in the WNBA draft.

2009 Shavonte Zellous, 1st round, 11th pick, Detroit Shock 2015 Brianna Kiesel, 2nd round, 13th pick, Tulsa Shock

Year by year results

Pitt's varsity women's basketball program, the only women's varsity sport at the school during that time, was started in the 1914–15 season and continued until 1926–1927, when it was dropped in favor of a program of intramural women's athletics that could provide more opportunities for the female students at the university. The varsity women's basketball program was revived for the 1970–71 season and moved under the auspices of the athletic department in 1974–75. Records prior to the 1974–75 are largely incomplete (see notes). {|class="wikitable" style="font-size:95%" ! Season ! Coach ! Overall ! Conference ! Standing ! Postseason ! Coaches' poll ! AP poll ! Notes

|1914–15||H. H. Provin||?-1||—||—||||||||incomplete records, reported all wins but 1 loss1916 Owl, Pg. 309 |- |1915–16||H. H. Provin||7–0||—||—||||||||1917 Owl pg. 308 |- |1916–17||H. H. Provin||6–0||—||—||||||||1918 Owl pg. 72 |- |1917–18||H. H. Provin||9–1||—||—||||||||1919 Owl pg. 376 |- |1918–19||H. H. Provin||8–0||—||—||||||||not including win over Alumnae1920 Owl pg. 270 |- |1919–20||H. H. Provin||8–0||—||—||||||||one win by forfeit1921 Owl pg. 438

|1920–21||A. Lemon Arnold||9–0||—||—||||||||3 game results unknown1922 Owl pg 313

|1921–22||Margaret A. McClenahan||6–1||—||—||||||||incomplete records1923 Owl pg. 368 |- |1922–23||Margaret A. McClenahan||6–3–1||—||—||||||||one tie, not including win over Freshman1924 Owl. Pg. 330 |- |1923–24||Margaret A. McClenahan||8–1||—||—||||||||not including win over Alumnae;1925 Owl pg. 2182 wins over Temple found onlyin Temple's media guide |- |1924–25||Margaret A. McClenahan||9–0||—||—||||||||not including win over Alumnae1926 Owl. Pg. 357 |- |1925–26||Margaret A. McClenahan||2-?||—||—||||||||7-game season, incomplete records1927 Owl pg. 318 |- |1926–27||Margaret A. McClenahan||4–2||—||—||||||||not including win over Alumnae1928 Owl pg. 304

|1970–71||Sandra Bullman||9–2||—||—||||||||individual game results unknown1971 Owl pg. 218Hail to Pitt: A Sports History of the University of Pittsburgh, Jim O'Brien, 1982, Wolfson Publishing, p. 287 |- |1971–72||Sandra Bullman||4–2||—||—||||||||1972 Owl pg. 488 |- |1972–73||Sandra Bullman||?-?||—||—||||||||unknown results1973 Owl pg. 245 |- |1973–74||Sandra Bullman||?-?||—||—||||||||unknown results1974 Owl pg. 144

|1974–75||Jean Condo||10–6||—||—||||||||

|1975–76||Pat Wallace||16–8||—||—||EAIAW Regional (3–1, consolation champions)|||||| |- |1976–77||Pat Wallace||19–8||—||—||EAIAW Regional (1–2)||||||

|1977–78||Jean Balthaser||14–14||—||—||EAIAW Regional (1–1)|||||| |- |1978–79||Jean Balthaser||12–17||—||—||EAIAW Regional (0–1)|||||| |- |1979–80||Jean Balthaser||21–11||—||—||EAIAW Regional (0–1)||||||

|1980–81||Judy Saurer||22–7||—||—||NWIT Fifth PlaceRegionals (0–1)|||||| |- |1981–82||Judy Saurer||14–14||—||—|||||||| |- |1982–83||Judy Saurer||17–11||5–3||3rd||||||||| |- style="background:#ffdd99" |1983–84||Judy Saurer||16–12||6–2||T-1st||||||||| |- |1984–85||Judy Saurer||16–12||10–6||T-4th||||||||

|1985–86||Kirk Bruce||11–16||5–11||6th|||||||| |- |1986–87||Kirk Bruce||7–21||1–15||9th|||||||| |- |1987–88||Kirk Bruce||14–15||5–11||7th|||||||| |- |1988–89||Kirk Bruce||11–17||3–13||9th|||||||| |- |1989–90||Kirk Bruce||15–14||6–10||6th|||||||| |- |1990–91||Kirk Bruce||16–13||10–6||T-3rd|||||||| |- |1991–92||Kirk Bruce||11–18||6–12||7th|||||||| |- |1992–93||Kirk Bruce||15–12||10–8||T-4th|||||||| |- |1993–94||Kirk Bruce||21–10||12–6||3rd||NWIT Third Place||||||| |- |1994–95||Kirk Bruce||17–11||10–8||T-4th|||||||| |- |1995–96||Kirk Bruce||6–24||3–15||7th (BE 7)|||||||| |- |1996–97||Kirk Bruce||8–22||3–15||7th (BE 7)|||||||| |- |1997–98||Kirk Bruce||6–21||3–15||7th (BE 7)||||||||

|1998–99||Traci Waites||8–19||3–15||T-12th||||||||| |- |1999–2000||Traci Waites||16–13||7–9||T-6th||WNIT first round|||||| |- |2000–01||Traci Waites||9–18||3–13||T-12th|||||||| |- |2001–02||Traci Waites||8–19||3–13||13th|||||||| |- |2002–03||Traci Waites||12–16||4–12||T-11th||||||||

|2003–04||Agnus Berenato||6–20||2–14||13th|||||||| |- |2004–05||Agnus Berenato||13–15||5–11||10th|||||||| |- |2005–06||Agnus Berenato||22–11||9–7||T-6th||WNIT semifinals|||||| |- |2006–07||Agnus Berenato||24–9||10–6||T-5th||NCAA round of 32|||||| |- |2007–08||Agnus Berenato||24–11||10–6||T-5th||NCAA Sweet Sixteen||16|||| |- |2008–09||Agnus Berenato||25–8||12–4||3rd||NCAA Sweet Sixteen||15||15|| |- |2009–10||Agnus Berenato||16–15||5–11||T-12th||WNIT first round|||||| |- |2010–11||Agnus Berenato||14–17||5–11||12th|||||||| |- |2011–12||Agnus Berenato||8–21||0–16||16th|||||||| |- |2012–13||Agnus Berenato||9–21||0–16||15th||||||||

|2013–14||Suzie McConnell-Serio||11–20||3–13||T-14th|||||||| |- |2014–15||Suzie McConnell-Serio||20–12||9–7||7th||NCAA second round|||||| |- |2015–16||Suzie McConnell-Serio||13–18||4–12||T-13th|||||||| |- |2016–17||Suzie McConnell-Serio||13–17||4–12||T-11th|||||||| |- |2017–18||Suzie McConnell-Serio||10–20||2–14||13th||||||||

|2018–19||Lance White||11–20||2–14||14th|||||||| |- |2019–20||Lance White||5–26||1–17||15th|||||||| |- |2020–21||Lance White||5–14||3–12||12th|||||||| |- |2021–22||Lance White|| 11–19 || 2–16 || T-14th|||||||| |- | 2022–23 || Lance White || 10–20 || 3–15 || 15th || || || ||

|2023–24||Tory Verdi||8–24||2–16||T-14th|||||||| |- |2024–25||Tory Verdi||13–18||5–13||15th||||||||

NCAA tournament results

2007 #8 First RoundSecond Round #9 James Madison#1 Tennessee W 71–61L 68–54 2008 #6 First RoundSecond RoundSweet Sixteen #11 Wyoming3 Baylor#2 Stanford W 63–58W 67–59L 72–53 2009 #4 First RoundSecond RoundSweet Sixteen #13 Montana12 Gonzaga#1 Oklahoma W 64–35W 65–60L 70–59 2015 #10 First RoundSecond Round #7 Chattanooga#2 Tennessee W 51–40L 77–67

Retired numbers Pittsburgh Panthers retired numbers No.PlayerPositionCareerYear of Retirement12 Jennifer Bruce F 1981-85202324 Lorri Johnson F 1987-922019

Current roster

References

External links