The 2010–11 Pittsburgh Panthers women's basketball team represented the University of Pittsburgh in the 2010–11 NCAA Division I women's basketball season. The Panthers, coached by Agnus Berenato, suffered their first losing season since 2004-05. The Panthers were a member of the Big East Conference, and played their home games at the Petersen Events Center in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
Previous season The 2010-11 Pitt women's basketball went 16-15, a disappointing finish considering that in December, the team had climbed as high as 15th in the nation in both the AP and Coaches national polls. Finishing with the 12th seed in the Big East tournament, the Panthers lost in the first round of the tournament to Louisville, but still earned its fifth straight post-season national tournament appearance in the 2010 Women's National Invitation Tournament. However, Pitt lost its opening game in the WNIT at Toledo.
Offseason The Panthers returned four starters, losing only starting forward sophomore Pepper Wilson. The offseason was characterized by an unusual turnover in both players and coaching staff. Center/forward Pepper Wilson, sophomore forward Kate Popovec, and sophomore guard Sarah Ogoke transferred, while assistant coaches Jeff Williams, Caroline McCombs, and Yolette McPhee-McCuin all left to pursue additional opportunities. Incoming players included forward Kyra Dunn as well as guards Marquel Davis, Yasmin Fuller, and Asia Logan. This left the Panthers with an unusual distribution of players by academic class, with five seniors and six freshmen, but no juniors or sophomores. New coaches included the former head coach of the WNBA's New York Liberty, Patty Coyle, along with Khadija Head, and former Pitt point guard Mallorie Winn.
The women's basketball team entered the season with modest external expectation, having been picked to finish 13th in the Big East Conference in a preseason poll of conference coaches. The Panthers started the season by receiving two votes in the preseason national top 25 AP Poll.
Roster Number Name Height Position Class Hometown 23 Ashlee Anderson 5-9 Guard Freshman (RS) Chicago, IL 42 Leeza Burdgess 6-5 Center Freshman (RS) Miami, FL 22 Chelsea Cole 6-3 Forward Senior Lumberton, NJ 13 Marquel Davis 5-9 Guard Freshman Fredericksburg, VA 33 Kyra Dunn 6-3 Forward Freshman Sacramento, CA 55 Yasmin Fuller 5-8 Guard Freshman Seattle, WA 10 Taneisha Harrison 6-0 Guard Senior Bowie, MD 0 Asia Logan 6-0 Guard Freshman Baltimore, MD 24 Jessica Renaud 5-11 Guard Freshman Downingtown, PA 25 Shayla Scott 6-1 Forward Senior Monroeville, PA 14 Jania Sims 5-7 Guard Senior (RS) Newark, NJ 12 Brittaney Thomas* 5-8 Guard Senior (RS) Montgomery, AL *Dismissed from the team during the season following the St. Francis (PA) game on December 1, 2010 for a violation of team rules.
Schedule Pitt's 2010-11 schedule.
!colspan=9| Exhibition
!colspan=9| Regular season
!colspan=9| Postseason†Big East Women's Basketball Championship
Rankings + Ranking movementLegend: ██ Improvement in ranking. ██ Decrease in ranking. ██ Not ranked the previous week. rv=Others receiving votes. Poll Pre Wk 1 Wk 2 Wk 3 Wk 4 Wk 5 Wk 6 Wk 7 Wk 8 Wk 9 Wk 10 Wk 11 Wk 12 Wk 13 Wk 14 Wk 15 Wk 16 WK 17 Wk 18 Final AP rv rv -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- Coaches -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --
Awards and honors
Shayla Scott was selected as the College/University winner of the Pat Blayden Spirit of Sport Award. Taneisha Harrison was selected to the All-Big East Women’s Basketball Second Team Chelsea Cole was tabbed Honorable Mention All-Big East. Chelsea Cole became just the fourth player in Pitt women’s basketball history to record 1,000 rebounds over a career. She finished with 1,003 boards.
See also Pittsburgh Panthers women's basketball Pittsburgh Panthers men's basketball 2010–11 Pittsburgh Panthers men's basketball team Pittsburgh Panthers University of Pittsburgh Big East Conference
References
External links Official Site