Posted on March 20, 2006
The lights shone brighter than usual at the University of Pittsburgh’s Peterson Events Center Sunday night, even for the Pittsburgh players, as both the JMU women’s basketball team and Panthers squared off in an NCAA opening round match in which they were delighted to be in.
However, as soon as the ball was tipped, the gloves came off.
None of the players from either side had been on the grand stage of the NCAA tournament. Unfortunately, only one team could move forward to play No. 1 Tennessee in the Dayton region, and that team was Pittsburgh.
On their home court, and in their first-ever NCAA tournament appearance, the No. 8 Panthers out-muscled the No. 9 Dukes to the tune of 71-61. And Pitt’s center Mercedes Walker was the conductor.
JMU had no answer for Walker’s inside presence. By the end of the night, she had posted her 15th double-double of the season and her seventh consecutive one with 20 points and 15 rebounds.
“Is there another player in this country that physical?” JMU coach Kenny Brooks said. “If there is, I’d love to see her.”
Walker finished 8-of-10 from the floor, 4-of-5 from the foul line and recorded two blocks.
“I thought Mercedes was really a warrior,” said Pitt coach Agnus Berenado, who has now led her second first-timer team to an NCAA tournament (Georgia Tech ’93). “She was tremendous on the boards as well as on the offensive end. But forget rebounding and forget her point production, it was just her presence on the court. She was a big time player.”
According to Berenado, Walker was a building-block recruit and had an unquestioned attitude of leadership throughout her three years.
Though the Panthers came into the game with only one senior in guard Danielle Taylor, who hit 4-of-6 for nine points, they were able to make adjustments at halftime to out-rebound the most experienced NCAA team in the Dukes 41-39.
Brooks said that the Dukes were excited about the opportunity to run man sets against Pittsburgh, after seeing zone in the CAA for eight or nine straight games.
However, the Dukes managed 33.8 percent from the floor and 20 percent from 3-point range (2-10). In comparison, the Panthers hit 46.2 percent from the floor, and got out to a hot start hitting seven of their first eight shots. They finished the first half with 52 percent shooting. They took care of business down the stretch as well, nailing 75 percent of their free throws.
JMU got into foul trouble early and had to do without center Meredith Alexis and forward Shirley McCall for the last ten minutes of the first half, which Brooks said really threw off the Dukes’ rhythm. However, a 4-point deficit was all that separated the teams at halftime. The crowd of 6,601 got into it during the second half.
“[Playing in Pittsburgh] was definitely an advantage for them,” Alexis said. “But we shouldn’t have let it affect us that much, because we had just as many people here.”
In the hostile environment, McCall finished with 12 points and three offensive rebounds, while Alexis managed 11 points and seven rebounds. JMU junior guard Tamera Young rounded out the double figure scoring for the Dukes with a team-high 16 points and had four steels.
Despite leading in multiple categories, including points in the paint (34-28), points off turnovers (15-5), second chance points (18-11) and fast break points (13-8), not to mention only turning the ball over nine times, the Dukes failed to match the Panthers on the scoreboard.
“We did the things we wanted to do,” Brooks said. “We just couldn’t put the ball in the basket. I thought we had some good looks, we just didn’t finish. I thought we rushed our shots in the first half and a few times in the second half.”
Though emotions ran especially high at the closing buzzer, JMU seniors were quick to point out the positives of being a part of a record-breaking, legacy-leaving year. They depart JMU having led the program to its seventh NCAA tournament appearance and its highest seeding, not to mention an increased fan base.
“Our fans are absolutely amazing,” said senior point guard Andrea Benevenuto, who finished with nine points and six assists. “Just the support they’ve shown us over the years, we couldn’t have asked for better fans or better support from the community and from the students.”
Another silver lining for the Dukes was former Pittsburgh player, junior forward Jennifer Brown. Brooks said she responded with moments of brilliance on defense in the post, while pulling down nine rebounds in 26 minutes.
“I really loved her attitude in how she approached this whole situation,” Brooks said. “It could have been a very awkward situation for her coming back here, because she left the school. But I thought she really used it as a positive, she helped out our team, and hopefully this is going to be a springboard for what’s going to happen for her next year, because we’re going to need her [with] all the points and rebounds walking out the door for us.”
