“I told you we would make your senior year special”
Those were the words that Pitt Panthers women’s basketball head coach Suzie McConnell-Serio told senior Brianna Kiesel all season long. The Panthers were picked to finish last in the ACC, had nine active players due to injury and were forced to wait until the last possible match up, however after Selection they got the last laugh earned a 10-seed in the NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament.
“I’m ecstatic, so happy for our players who just continued to believe and do everything we asked all year long,” McConnell-Serio said. “You live for moments like this, to be able to play in the NCAA Tournament and represent Pitt. We knew we did a lot this season but you never know what it’s going to come down to when the committee meets. This is the first chance I’ve had as a coach to experience this, it was emotional for me.”
The Panthers will face seven-seeded Chattanooga which has a 29-3 overall record. The game will be played Saturday at 11 a.m. on ESPN2. The winner of the game will face the winner of the two-seed Tennessee versus 15-seed Boise State matchup Monday.
The Panthers were 19-11 in the ACC and the eighth and final team from the conference to get in. This is their first appearance in the NCAA Tournament since the 2008-09 season.
Kiesel, who was selected to the First Team All-ACC and All-Defensive Team is the leader of the team with her 18.2 points per game, five rebounds per game, 138 assists, 545 total points on the season and 84.9 free throw shooting percentage.
Another senior, Monica Wignot, is the team’s other double-digit scorer averaging 10.4 points per game, 6.3 rebounds per game and also has a team leading 35.8 shooting percentage from three point range.
Three freshmen consist the rest of the starters in Yacine Diop [9.3 ppg], Stasha Carey [9.2 ppg] and Aysia Bugg [6.0 ppg]. McConnell-Serio told the three immediately upon coming to Pitt that they would be relied upon from day one. With the injuries to Marvadene “Bubbles” Anderson and Brittany Gordon, these words turned out to be true.
“I’m so excited just to be here as a team, our excitement that we had here,” Brianna Kiesel said. “We didn’t even get a chance to fully look at it, all we saw was Pittsburgh and we all automatically jumped up, we’re just that excited. For coach to come in here and turn the program around in two years, how amazing is that?”
The tournament berth was especially sweet for McConnell-Serio, who two years ago thought that her Duquesne Dukes team had made the tournament, only to be left on the outside looking in.
“I’ve been in this situation before where you wait and wait and you don’t hear your name called,” said McConnell-Serio. “I was getting to the point where I was nervous because all along we were predicted to be a 12 seed, never imagined we would be in a 7-10 game. They could put us at any seed and send us anywhere, just to be a part of the NCAA Tournament is an experience these players will never forget for the rest of their lives.”
This time after a two-year rebuild, the Panthers have put their dancing shoes on once again and have high hopes.
