If there's anything the Marquette women's basketball team needs right now, it's a little rest. But, like a 17-year-old trying to buy a lottery ticket, they won't get it.
On Friday, the Golden Eagles travel east to take on a sizzling Pittsburgh team which has won four straight, the last three coming on the road against Seton Hall, Syracuse and Georgetown.
The match-up presents major problems for Marquette, especially after a trying week-long road trip where the Golden Eagles split a pair of games with a loss at then-No. 23 Rutgers and a grind-it-out victory over Georgetown.
A poor effort Tuesday at home versus Syracuse resulted in a 66-55 loss, leaving coach Terri Mitchell devoid of answers.
"It's difficult to win on road in the Big East, and they just took one from us," a visibly dejected Mitchell said. "Now we just have to do the best we can preparing for very good Pittsburgh team."
Syracuse's full court press and 2-3 zone gave the Golden Eagles fits all night, as they continuously settled for contested 3-point jump shots without finding any sort of offensive rhythm.
"We just kept passing it around the perimeter," said sophomore guard Tatiyiana McMorris, who had nine points. "Coach told us to attack the gaps and get an inside game, but we didn't capitalize on that."
Friday comes an even bigger challenge – The No. 21-ranked Panthers (15-4, 5-2 Big East) have been winning in a variety of ways of late, dominating USF and Seton Hall (a team Marquette lost to earlier this season) by over 30 points. In their Jan. 24 game at Syracuse, Pitt's Xenia Stewart nailed a buzzer-beating jumper to escape with a crucial road win.
Leading the Panther attack has been standout senior guard Shavonte Zellous, whose 23.4 points per game is good for tops in the Big East this season. If Marquette is to have any hope of containing Zellous, they'll have to prevent her from getting in the lane as she also leads the conference in free throws made with 115.
But Zellous isn't the only weapon that the Panther arsenal boasts. Fellow guards Stewart (12 ppg) and Taneisha Harrison (10 ppg) also average double figures in points, while an enormous frontcourt of Kate Popovec (6-foot-3), Chelsea Cole (6-foot-3) and Shawnice "Pepper" Wilson (6-foot-6) have Pittsburgh currently in second place in both offensive and defensive rebounding in the Big East.
The Golden Eagles will obviously have to limit the Panthers opportunities for second chance points, but making some shots wouldn't hurt either. Marquette shot an abysmal 0-11 from behind the 3-point arc in the second half against Syracuse, and their lack of ability to make big shots hurt them down the stretch.
Senior guard Krystal Ellis had a decent first half against the Orange with seven points and four assists, but struggled to penetrate the zone in the second, finishing with just two points and four turnovers in the half.
Angel Robinson suffered from foul trouble most of the night, but it didn't limit her poor shot selection. Robinson finished with just seven points on 2-of-13 shooting, including 0-of-3 from downtown.
With their star backcourt not playing up to their usual standards, Marquette will have to find some different answers if they want to come up with a road victory against a deep Pitt team. One of those might just come down to character, according to forward Paige Fiedorowicz.
"We've got to move forward and be hungrier," Fiedorowicz noted. "I know everybody wants it, but I don't know where our heads are. When we play together we're such a good team."