Matt Freed, Post-Gazette Pitt's Danielle Taylor pulls a rebound away from St. John's Tina Sten. Click photo for larger image.

St. John's seemed to be the perfect opponent for the Pitt women's team to showcase its talent in front of its biggest home crowd of the season. The Red Storm entered the game six games under .500 and had not won a Big East Conference game.

As it turned out, the Panthers might have been the perfect opponent to help the Red Storm turnaround its season.

St. John's took control of the game midway through the first half and held on for a 76-69 victory against the Panthers before 5,712 at the Petersen Center. The size of the crowd was a result of the annual "Pack the Petersen" event.

"Needless to say we are very disappointed. This was a tremendous disappointment for us," Pitt coach Agnus Berenato said. "One game doesn't make or break your season, so we move on. This shows our league is very tough; the Big East is very unpredictable. You have to be ready to play every game and, when you have a young team, they have to learn that you have to play hard, play like warriors and come to compete every game.

"Sometimes, student-athletes, when they are younger, get up for the bigger games but maybe overlook some of the other games. Maybe mentally we took a break. This is a tough way to learn, but, hopefully, we can learn something from this."

	Matt Freed, Post-Gazette Marcedes Walker had 22 points and 11 rebounds in the loss. Click photo for larger image.

In retrospect, it probably should not be much of a surprise that St. John's won the game because the Red Storm seems to have the Panthers' number. This was the sixth consecutive win by St. John's against Pitt, and Berenato, in her fourth season at Pitt, fell to 0-5 against the Red Storm.

St. John's (5-10, 1-3) lost preseason All-American point guard Kia Wright for six games in December with an injury. She returned two weeks ago, and the Red Storm had played much better in the three games since her return.

Yesterday, she broke out for 23 points, 10 assists and a steal.

Wright's ability to score off the dribble as well as penetrate and pass to the open player gave the Panthers fits. She also helped the Red Storm maintain its lead late in the game, when the Panthers made several runs. St. John's led, 41-37, at the half and stretched it to 60-49 on two free throws by Joy McCorvey with 8:49 to play.

But Marcedes Walker, who had 22 points, 11 rebounds and 6 steals, led the Panthers (13-3, 1-2) on a furious rally to tie the score at 61-61 with 6:15 left. But Wright followed with a nice drive and pass to Angel Tate who converted a layup. The Panthers never tied the score again.

Berenato also said Pitt's free-throw shooting -- the Panthers made only 11 of 20 attempts -- and rebounding also contributed heavily to the loss. The Panthers were outrebounded, 43-37.