The Pitt News
Will a Donald Trump presidency affect Pitt’s sexual assault services? Pg. 2
The independent student newspaper of the University of Pittsburgh | PIttnews.com | december 5, 2016 | Volume 107 | Issue 89
BURGLARS HIT OAKLAND AGAIN Amanda Reed
Contributing Editor After a burglar broke into their house in the 3400 block of Ward Street on Halloween, Jacky Chen and his five roommates made a house rule to lock their door at all times, even if another roommate was home. But several of the roommates forgot to lock the door on their way to a track workout with the Ultimate Frisbee team Dec. 1. Chen, the only roommate home at the time, didn’t check the lock when they left, and the house was broken into a second time. Chen, a senior exercise science major, went from the living room to his third floor bedroom to get some work done when he heard rustling downstairs at about 11 p.m. He assumed it was one of his roommates, but later, when his roommates came home from track practice, he realized it was an intruder. While Chen was in his bedroom, the burglar entered the home and took multiple items, including an iPad, Wii and Xbox. “I was in disbelief, because I was home at the time and thought [my roommates] were kidding,” Chen said. Their Ward Street home was one of three burglarized in the past week, bringing the total number of Oakland burglaries to 23 this semester.
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The Philippine American Performing Arts group performs at the annual Nationality Rooms Open House in the Cathedral Sunday. Anna Bongardino STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
PITTSBURGHERS STAND WITH STANDING ROCK A crowd gathered in Schenley Plaza to protest the Dakota Access Pipeline, the same weekend construction was postponed. | by James Evan Bowen-Gaddy | Staff Writer Rather than staying in the comfort of her Braddock Hills home, Beth McAhren spent her Thanksgiving in Standing Rock, North Dakota. For five days at Standing Rock, McAhren cooked meals for the demonstrators there protesting the construction of an energy pipeline through land near a Sioux tribe reservation. McAhren’s said she was “protecting” the land and water that the Dakota Access Pipeline would damage. On Sunday, McAhren’s and other’s efforts paid off. After months of protests and demonstrations across the country, the federal govern-
ment denied the pipeline’s permits for its current route. The denial is a delay for the construction, but may not stop the construction entirely, pending a review of the project and further consideration by president-elect Donald Trump. But it was a long journey to Sunday’s announcement. During the protests throughout the week of Thanksgiving, the “water protectors” — the term used to describe protestors and demonstrators opposing construction on the Dakota Access Pipeline — gathered in camps of tents and tepees, trying to get rest. McAhren said the
nights were long and cold, and the police flew helicopters low at night, shining bright lights on the camps to interrupt protectors’ sleep. “They’re using Guantanamo Bay techniques,” McAhren said. Energy Transfer Partners, a Texas-based Fortune 500 company, planned to build the DAPL as part of the Bakken Pipeline Project to transfer crude oil from North Dakota to Illinois. The initiative is supposed to reduce the amount of crude oil shipped by truck and rail and increase the amount shipped by underground pipeline. See Standing Rock on page 2
News TITLE IX COORD. : SEXUAL ASSAULT SERVICES SAFE UNDER TRUMP see online crime map
Nikita Karulkar Staff Writer
When Vice President Joe Biden visited Pitt in April, encouraging students to fight rape culture on campus, he was speaking during a year that seemed promising for the future of sexual assault services at colleges nationwide. Pitt had opened the Office of Diversity and Inclusion only a few months prior and hired its first fulltime Title IX Coordinator, Katie Pope. The office has since screened films about differently abled people and hosted speakers, usually in partnership with other programs, such as the Gender, Sexuality and Women’s Studies program. In the same year, Pitt released the results of the 2015 Campus Climate Survey on Sexual Assault and Sexual Misconduct, which showed that 21 percent of female undergraduate students, 6.2 percent of undergraduate males and 19.6 percent of undergraduate transgender, gender-queer, gender-nonconforming and questioning students — as well as students not represented in these categories — experienced nonconsensual penetration or sexual touching during
college. At the time of Pope’s hire, Pam Connelly, who formerly filled the Title IX Coordinator position part time, said rising statistics about campus sexual assault were shocking and that Pope would be implementing initiatives to foster a safe environment at Pitt. “It’s essential to be collaborative … to be a resource, to be available, to learn from [people all across campus],” Pope told The Pitt News about designing sexual assault initiatives. Pitt had also made efforts to make the campus more accommodating for students based on their gender and sexual identity. Ruskin Hall became the first gender-neutral dorm on campus and in September 2015, Pitt announced that students, faculty and staff could use restrooms based on the gender they identify with anywhere on campus. But President-elect Donald Trump’s comments about women, especially his interview with Billy Bush in which he admitted to groping women without their consent and his vice president’s history of anti-LGBTQ+ sentiments have made many worry that this progress will stall or lessen in the next four See Title IX on page 3
Standing Rock, pg. 1 Americans from all over the country have been setting up camps in Standing Rock since spring 2016, along with over 90 Native American tribes, to protest the pipeline, which they say is dangerously close to the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe’s main water source. In a victory for the protectors, after months of social action in North Dakota and around the country, the federal government denied permits for the pipeline Sunday. In the meantime, the Army Corps of Engineers will conduct an environmental impact review of the project and look at other possible routes for the pipeline. But the fight isn’t over yet. Although the Obama administration halted the project, construction could still move forward with the approval of the administration later on. President elect-Donald Trump has already publicly shown his support for the project and Energy Transfer Partners has previously said it is willing to wait for approval from the Trump administration. Before that happened though, protestors and protectors have gathered in Pittsburgh several times to join the fight against the DAPL. Jenna Arthur-Tomor organized the protest in Schenley Plaza to reach a McAhren and more than 40 protesters met in younger population. Meghan Sunners SENIOR STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER Schenley Plaza this Saturday in the most recent
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December 5, 2016
effort to bring awareness to violence against those gathered at Standing Rock. Jen Arthur-Tomor and her wife Jenna, organized the protest in Oakland, and stressed the importance of and even invited protesters to bring their children. “No swearing, no profanity, no spreading violence,” Arthur-Tomor said as the group gathered along Fifth Avenue. For the next hour and a half, college students, children, parents, and veterans huddled together in the cold, chanting and chatting with passersby. Protesters held up homemade signs that read “Defend the Sacred,” “We all need water!” and one that served as a cheat sheet for their main chant — “We stand for peace, justice, the planet. We stand for Standing Rock. Water is Life.” Cars honked as they drove by, eliciting cheers from children holding signs. One child — wearing a winter cap with “Standing Rock” written on it — ventured there with his mother, Lissa Ludinich from McKeesport. Ludinich stressed the importance that protests such as these happen in places like Pittsburgh, rather than simply in Standing Rock. “How would we react if this was our water See Standing Rock on page 3
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Title IX, pg. 2 years. While chair of the English Department, Don Bialostosky, said in a speech following Trump’s election that Pope had told him she was worried her position would be revoked, she now says she’s not worried that there will be major changes in that regard. Rather, she was concerned about the emphasis — or lack of emphasis — the incoming administration will put on Title IX issues. Kristen Houser, media head for the Pennsylvania Coalition Against Rape, said she is also concerned about the future of Title IX. Houser said although Title IX has been around since the early ’70s, it’s “guess work” to predict how President-elect Trump’s administration will manage Title IX enforcement and funding. “The unknown factor is whether or not the new [Trump] administration will keep the same priorities, and whether or not they will provide the resources to resolve all the open cases,” Houser said. Pitt, like other universities, does not receive any direct federal or state funding to help abide by the Title IX guidelines and to provide related services. The Title IX Office, as a part of the Office of Diversity and Inclusion, receives funding from the University’s budget. The Obama administration made sexual assault awareness and prevention a cornerstone of its advocacy efforts on college campuses, seen
Standing Rock, pg. 2 supply?” Ludinich said. “It wouldn’t happen if it was our water supply.” Arthur-Tomor said that she and her wife chose Pitt’s campus as the location for the protest because others here have been peaceful. In addition, they hoped to reach a younger audience. “The older generation already has the wool
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particularly when Biden and former Secretary of Education Arne Duncan published a Dear Colleague letter in 2011 that included a set of guidelines for universities to follow when handling sexual violence on campus. The guidelines — which are intended to help universities meet Title IX obligations — included ways universities could inform students of their options after an assault and ways they could go about conducting prompt investigations. The guidelines were meant to provide a safer environment for survivors, who often face significant obstacles after an assault. “The federal government gives direction to universities about enforcing Title IX,” Houser said. “The current administration has made it a priority, and they’ve said that when 20 percent of the population is having a life-altering experience on campus, we need to respond to it.” Survivors often have difficulty sleeping, eating, going out in public and knowing who they can trust, which — for survivors who are also students — can have a negative impact on their schoolwork, according to Houser. “[Survivors] can’t stay focused or concentrate, so how will they be able to study for a test or write an essay?” Houser said. “It is absolutely appropriate that students be given accommodations for their education.” Pope has said that regardless of how much emphasis the Trump administration places on Title IX issues, the University will not stray away from making sure that the campus is a safe environment for survivors. “[Sexual harassment and sexual miscon-
duct] have always happened on campuses, but the last eight years have given exposure in a way that hadn’t been done before,” Pope said. “The work is always going to be there, and we’re going to continue to do it. You can’t just bottle it back up.” Title IX, part of the Education Amendments of 1972, protects the rights of American citizens against discrimination. It states that no educational institution that receives federal funds can discriminate on the basis of sex — meaning that, regardless of a student’s gender or sex, they cannot be excluded from participation, denied benefits or be subjected to any discrimination. In 2011, the Office for Civil Rights extended its Title IX guidelines to include duties to protect against any sexual misconduct, in addition to gender-based discrimination. Pope said the Title IX office is also eligible for private grants or grants from the state. “We have been fortunate recipients for three different grants, one of which was through the organization Futures Without Violence, and another one was through Governor Wolf’s It’s On Us campaign,” Pope said. Pope said regardless of the change in federal administration, the Title IX Office plans to work to increase reporting, improve the campus climate and improve gender equity at Pitt by tackling cases individually and understanding the specific needs of students. Despite increased attention, the need for sexual assault services has certainly not diminished. There are 288 active sexual violence investigations at 215 colleges across the United
States as of Dec. 4, according to the Chronicle of Higher Education’s Title IX tracker. Shamanta Mostofa, a senior neuroscience and chemistry double major, is the president of the Pitt Genocide Relief and Awareness Club, which hosted the Pitt Breaking Out campaign Saturday. The campaign featured stories of sexual assault survivors at Pitt. Mostofa and the club’s vice president, Jayne Lester, are worried that the University’s efforts — many of which have been about awareness raising — might not be enough to counteract rape culture on campus under the new administration. As Trump takes office, Lester, a senior history and global studies double major, said she wants Pitt to be more proactive in interacting with students and making it clearer that they are taking action against the sexual misconduct. “The words [Pitt’s] saying are good, but the action is missing,” Lester said. Because Trump’s voter base did not take his comments about groping women or the accusations of sexual assault levied against him seriously enough to withdraw their support, Lester worried that the progress that’s been made in defining sexual assault is in jeopardy. “The University might not pull funding for Title IX, but there is still a culture of victim blaming,” Lester said. “You can say that the president-elect is [only] one person, but there is a group of people that feels comfortable with expressing those same thoughts and their voice is getting louder.”
pulled over their eyes,” Arthur-Tomor said. “The younger generation and the college students are growing up in a generation seeing more. They can see more what’s going and they can see what’s not right and they’re more likely to stand up and fight for what they believe in.” The protesters remained on the corner of Fifth Avenue and Bigelow Boulevard for the duration of the demonstration because it was high-traffic area, Arthur-Tomor said. Lucy Clabby, a fifth-year English writing
major at Pitt, said she showed up to the protest because the mainstream media has been ignoring the topic. “The more noise we make about it, the more attention people pay to it,” Clabby said. A large portion of the news surrounding the Standing Rock protests has spread through social media. Most notably, many of those opposed to the DAPL are “checking in” to Standing Rock via Facebook, even when they’re not there in person, in an effort to confuse authori-
ties and show solidarity with on-site protectors. Even as the winter months approach, some DAPL protesters are still planning on traveling to Standing Rock. Eva Resnick-Day, a Pitt alum from the class of 2012 who majored in political science and environmental science, said she was preparing to travel to North Dakota to join the protest camps this coming Monday. “We need to be sure to protect the earth and our water for everyone no matter where we are,” Resnick-Day said.
December 5, 2016
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Opinions op-ed
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Standing Rock Sioux tribe’s fight is not over With only one day left before they will be told to evacuate the construction site, Native Americans and supporters of the No DAPL protest all around the country are celebrating. After months of protesting and demonstrations in support of the Standing Rock Sioux tribe, the Army Corps of Engineers announced Sunday it will explore alternative routes for the pipeline crossing through Sioux land and conduct an environmentalimpact statement with public input and analysis. This means that the current route for the Dakota Access Pipeline is being denied, a major triumph for the efforts of the Sioux and protesters. While the announcement is a victory for Native Americans and indigenous rights, there is still the possibility that the project could go through under a Trump Administration. We must continue to push our lawmakers and companies to respect the rights of the Standing Rock Sioux tribe and the environmental consequences of these energy projects. The tribal members have long stood against the pipeline because it would endanger their water sources and damage the historic and culturally significant land, which is half a mile away from the reservation border. The pipeline would transport crude oil across North Dakota to Illinois and carry about 470,000 barrels per day. While the economic benefits of the project include greater energy independence for the United States, the oil company went forward with construction without concern for the Native American land it was crossing. President-elect Donald Trump has several ties to the 1,772 mile project and has vowed to support energy pipelines such as this one. Trump has invested in Energy Transfer Partners in the past and owns a
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stake in Phillips 66, which owns 25 percent of the Dakota Access Pipeline. Although his team stated that there was no conflict of interest in his support, the likelihood of Trump putting business interests over the environment is substantial. Thousands of protesters, celebrities, activists and veterans across the country have stood with the tribe in protecting their lands in cities like New York, Seattle, Denver and here in Pittsburgh. Oftentimes the demonstrations at the reservation were disrupted by law enforcement wielding tear gas and water cannons. Under the terms of the 1851 treaty, the main camp sits on federal lands that have been assigned the Standing Rock Sioux, which would be broken if the construction pursued. The current halt is a positive step forward, but it’s not guaranteed. A memo from a Trump aide, for example, said that the president-elect supports completing the project because it’s good policy. This plus Trump’s shifting positions on climate change leaves uncertainty to the future of our environment and the Dakota Access Pipeline. The movement to halt the pipeline’s construction on Sioux land must continue to challenge his administration and any effort to infringe on environmental justice and indigenous rights. We should celebrate this victory for people trying to protect their water and homeland. This an excellent example of the power of social movements in pressuring the system. But supporters shouldn’t let celebrations end their action. We should continue to keep lawmakers accountable. We must push back and insist that the future of our planet is more important than economic benefits. And we must demand our new president to take the environment and rights of Standing Rock Sioux’s members seriously.
GUN CONTROL WILL NOT SOLVE GUN VIOLENCE
Courtesy Jeremy Wang
Jeremy Wang
For The Pitt News Removing assault weapons from the market will do nothing to address the root causes of violence. Whenever there is a mass shooting or crime involving firearms — whether it be the Orlando nightclub shooting or the epidemic of inner-city violent crime — the phrase “gun violence” is immediately injected into every conversation. While Democrats have sought to increase gun control with legislation that bans assault weapons and makes it harder to obtain a firearm, reports have shown that assault weapons account for a miniscule percentage of most gun-related crimes. And, as a National Rifle Association member and a Democrat, I think it’s time to change the politicized and oftentimes rhetorical nature of the gun control debate.
December 5, 2016
Programs that focus on issues such as housing, health care, mental health treatment and job training programs — which have been implemented in Richmond, California — have proven to reduce violence far more than increasing gun control. In late September, the FBI released the 2015 Crime in the United States report, a detailed compilation of statistics that helped pinpoint how and where crimes were occurring. It revealed a staggering 9,616 homicides carried out with firearms, but it also provided us with data that seemed to run counter to the political morass surrounding the gun control debate. More importantly, it highlighted the failings of disarmament in the hopes of crime prevention rather than the engagement of the root causes of violence. Rifles accounted for 252 deaths, roughly See Wang on page 7
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Wang, pg. 6 two percent of homicides in 2015. And with assault weapons responsible for only a fraction of this already miniscule subcategory, it raises questions about the legitimacy of the Democratic party’s arguments that “weapons of war” flood America’s streets. Historical data backs up this problematic truth, with the New York Times reporting that assault weapons only accounted for two percent of gun crime prior to the signing of the 1994 Assault Weapons Ban, a time when violent crime in America peaked. The most overlooked category of homicides by weapon type continues to be homicides carried out with handguns, totaling 6,447 and largely located in metropolitan centers. Chicago, with its assault weapons ban and high capacity magazine ban, is one of the strictest cities in terms of gun control while having a violent crime rate nearly 2.5 times greater than the national average. Its police department confiscated more firearms than any other police department in the nation, nearly 6,500 in 2014. The top 20 most popular types of guns seized by Chicago police were handguns. Out of the
thousands confiscated, only three were assault weapons. Absolutely none of the assault weapon rhetoric filling American politics has any relation to the core of this country’s gun crime problem. During the widely viewed presidential debates, neither candidate made any serious mention of how to help the Americans trapped by inner-city gun violence. Meanwhile, the vast majority of those who face violent crime on a regular basis are forgotten. Furthermore, a handgun ban would enjoy meager support among Americans. Only 5 percent of Americans believe that a ban on handguns could prevent a mass shooting, according to a 2011 Gallup poll. In addition, such a move is unconstitutional and considered extreme by even the most vocal gun-control advocates in Congress. The real solution is not unknown or out of reach. In July, Texas police detective Nick Selby published a Washington Post article which detailed Richmond’s successful struggle against violent crime. Previously grappling with one of the highest rates of gun violence in the country, Richmond’s city leadership discovered that nearly 70 percent of the city’s gun violence
in 2008 was carried out by roughly 30 individuals. This isn’t specific to Richmond — the Cincinnati Initiative to Reduce Violence identified less than 1 percent of their residents for being responsible for 74 percent of the city’s homicides. Richmond leadership soon realized that plunging more funding into forceful police efforts was not decreasing the rate of crime. Instead, they developed an innovative program which combed through police records to identify the 50 individuals most likely to go out and shoot someone or be shot themselves. The program then approached these individuals and offered an 18 to 24 month fellowship which mapped career goals, provided job training and internships, offered health care and granted a $1,000 monthly stipend to those involved. And not once did the program ask these individuals to surrender their firearms. Since the program’s introduction in 2007, Richmond has experienced a 76 percent reduction in firearm-related homicides and a 66 percent reduction in firearm-related assaults. Other cities have taken note of Richmond’s success. The District of Columbia;
Oakland, California; Toledo, Ohio and San Jose, California, have all adopted this model. Gary, Indiana, and Baltimore are also interested in initiating similar programs. If we want to address the root causes of violence, then cities like Pittsburgh should follow suit in implementing similar programs. Richmond’s program evaluation report concluded that their approach successfully struck at the heart of violent crime in the city and empowered program participants to become forces for positive change in their communities. As one participant in the program stated, “I can leave all the bulls*** at home and work on being me. I come with my problems and [the fellowship] grows you up and makes you a better person for what you got to do in life.” The term “gun violence” is a cop out, just like “knife violence” or “fist violence.” The more important half of the term is “violence,” and if we truly want to pursue an endeavor to tackle the issue at its root, the rhetoric needs to stop, and we must start focusing on the violence and not the guns. Jeremy Wang is an officer for the Pitt College Democrats and a gun owner who focuses his efforts on self-defense training and instruction.
The Pitt News SuDoku 12/5/16 courtesy of dailysudoku.com
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December 5, 2016
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Sports
VOLLEYBALL
Pitt 1 Penn State 3
MENʼS BASKETBALL WOMENʼS BASKETBALL
Pitt 55 Duquesne 64
Pitt 63 Charlotte 70
WRESTLING
Pitt 0 Oklahoma State 39
football
PANTHERS TO PLAY IN PINSTRIPE BOWL Steve Rotstein
are looking forward to the head coach Pat Narduzzi said in experience and especially the a press release. “We are thrilled Sports Editor challenge of about the opportunity to play a facing Pat For the first time in 54 years, the Pitt foot- bowl game in a worldFitzgerald’s ball team will be playing in the home of the class city and prestiNorthwestmost successful franchise in American pro gious venue.” ern team, a But Narsports — the New York Yankees. coach and and The Panthers will take on the Northwestern duzzi program I Wildcats in the Bronx, New York, in the 2016 the Panthers New Era Pinstripe Bowl at 2 p.m. on Wednes- aren’t losday, Dec. 28. The Panthers played at the original ballpark twice before, in a 3-0 loss vs. Syracuse in 1923 and a 7-6 win vs. Army in 1962, but haven’t played in the new park, which was TNS built in 2009. Pitt found out the destination for its 33rd ing sight of the task at hand — trying to beat respect tremendously.” Pitt earned the selection after posting an all-time postseason appearance when the Pin- Northwestern and improve on last year’s 8-5 stripe Bowl announced it on Twitter Sunday record with a 9-4 finish in Narduzzi’s second 8-4 regular season and 5-3 record in conference play, which tied the team for second season. afternoon. “I’ve heard so many tremendous things place in the ACC Coastal Division with Vir“On behalf of our football program, I would like to thank the New Era Pinstripe Bowl for about the first-class treatment provided by the ginia Tech and North Carolina. Northwestern, the opportunity to play in this year’s game,” Pitt Yankees,” Narduzzi said in the release. “We meanwhile, enters the matchup with a 6-6
overall record after a 5-4 finish in the Big Ten conference. “Congratulations to our student athletes and coaches for finishing an exciting regular season on a fantastic high note and earning a tier one bowl bid,” Pitt athletic director Scott Barnes said in the release. According to Barnes, Pitt sold out its 7,000-ticket allotment for the Military Bowl last year and more than 10,000 fans showed up in all. Pitt will again start with an allotment of 7,000 tickets this year. “Last year’s performance by our fans resonated with the bowl community,” Barnes told reporters Sunday night. “There’s an expectation, so we’re eager to get our fans back on the bandwagon, so to speak, and rally around our team.” This will be the seventh matchup between the Panthers and Wildcats, with the series tied at three games apiece. Pitt won the last meeting during the 1973 season, 21-14.
volleyball
PITT ENDS SEASON IN SECOND ROUND David Leftwich and Steve Rotstein The Pitt News Staff
Pitt’s first appearance in the NCAA Volleyball Tournament since 2004 ended with a familiar scene in the eliminating game. After a successful comeback victory against the Dayton Flyers Friday, Pitt volleyball team’s season came to a close Saturday with a 3-1 loss against the No. 13 Penn State Nittany Lions in the second round of the NCAA tournament in State College, Pennsylvania. The result on Saturday was identical to the last time the Panthers made it this far in the tournament, which was in 2003. That year, they also advanced to the second round of play where they won the first set, but lost to Penn State 3-1 on the
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Nittany Lions’ home court. Overall, it was another successful season for Pitt and head coach Dan Fisher, who accomplished the goal he set before the season by guiding the team back to the tournament for the first time since 2004. The Panthers finished with a 25-9 record, their third straight 20-win season and second 25-win season during Fisher’s four-year tenure. In its first matchup of the tournament, Pitt squared off against a formidable Dayton team, which entered the tournament with a 30-1 overall record. “We’re obviously super excited about the win,” Fisher said after the match. “Just want to congratulate Dayton on a great season. They had a great year — 30 wins — and it showed tonight why. The game never seemed over.” Pitt experienced some sloppy play to
start the first set in a pressure-filled environment and fell behind, 11-6, hitting seven errors during that stretch. Using their serve, the Flyers further extended their lead and constantly kept the Panthers off balance. Eventually, the Flyers pushed their lead to a commanding 1810 advantage. While mounting a small comeback, this lead was too much for the Panthers to overcome, and they dropped the first set 25-20. Rebounding in the second set, Pitt jumped out to an early 6-1 lead. Dayton’s offensive play deteriorated as the Flyers committed more errors, which made a significant difference for the Panthers in comparison to the previous set. The Panthers maintained their lead with strong play by redshirt freshman
Nika Markovic (17) made 15 kills against Penn See Volleyball on page 10 State. Jeff Ahearn SENIOR STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
December 5, 2016
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women’s basketball
PLAYERS FOUL OUT IN LOSS TO 49ERS, 70-63 Mackenzie Rodrigues Staff Writer
When two key starters fouled out before the end of the game, the Pitt women’s basketball team’s attempt at a comeback against Charlotte Sunday afternoon fizzled out, ending instead in a 70-63 loss. Uncharacteristically, forward Brenna Wise and center Brandi Harvey-Carr each collected five personal fouls with under seven minutes left on the game clock. The absence of these strong post players affected the team’s last quarter play, contributing to Pitt’s second loss in a row Sunday afternoon at the Petersen Events Center. “I don’t think we could find any rhythm especially with players getting in foul trouble,” Pitt head coach Suzie McConnell-Serio said. “It forced us to change some things, put different combinations on the floor. When you have two starting post players for not much of the fourth
quarter, it made a difference for us.” Both Pitt and Charlotte had a slow start to the game. Charlotte scored after two minutes of gameplay. Shortly after this basket, HarveyCarr committed her first and second personal foul of the game while defending underneath Pitt’s basket. Wise put up the first points for Pitt from the foul line, sinking only one of her shots. Pitt first-year guard Jasmine Whitney made her first jumper of the day, tying the game at three. After stealing a pass, Wise was met with stiff defense by Charlotte’s senior guard Ciara Gregory, who sailed into the group of Pitt cheerleaders seated on the floor. At the foul line again, Wise made both free throws this time. A triple from Pitt first-year Alayna Gribble sent the Panthers to a 10-5 lead over the 49ers. Pitt junior guard Aysia Bugg got her first points of the game, and the 49ers responded with a 10-point run, ending the quarter with a
19-12 advantage over Pitt. The 49ers started the second quarter with the first baskets, but Harvey-Carr nailed a solid layup to get two points. Just after her score, Harvey-Carr committed her third foul, this time against Charlotte’s forward Dara Pearson, and was subbed out for the remainder of the quarter. Even without her underneath the basket, the Panthers continued to score. Gibbs made her second shot of the game to tie up the score at 21. Pitt sophomore Cassidy Walsh knocked down her first basket of the season, contributing three points to the Panthers. A combination of strong passes, offensive rebounds and clean defensive plays assisted Pitt in a 19-0 run and development of a 10-point lead, 31-21. “She was great energy,” McConnell-Serio said about Walsh’s play. “She hit a three … It was great to see her back out there, to have another Alayna Gribble (23) scored 14 points option, but with Cassidy and Alayna on the against the Charlotte 49ers. Abigail See Women’s Basketball on page 10 Self STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
WRESTLERS FALL TO NO. 1 OSU, 39-0
wrestling
Steve Rotstein Sports Editor
Dom Forys lost against Oklahoma State’s Kaid Brock Sunday. Wenhao Wu SENIOR STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
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For the second season in a row, the Pitt wrestling team failed to win a match against the most accomplished program in the history of the sport — the Oklahoma State Cowboys. After a 36-0 win for the 34-time national champions at the Fitzgerald Field House last season, No. 1 Oklahoma State (4-0) rolled to victory in all 10 matches Sunday for a 39-0 win over the No. 21 Panthers (3-2) at Gallagher-Iba Arena in Stillwater, Oklahoma. The Cowboys won three bouts by decision, five by major decision and two more by technical fall. “I knew it was going to be a big chal-
December 5, 2016
lenge for us, but I hope our guys grow from this experience,” Pitt head coach Jason Peters said in a press release. “We have a good team, but Oklahoma State has a great team, and they exposed our weaknesses today. We will head home and continue to work hard and improve.” In the opening match, Pitt sophomore LJ Bentley fell via a 12-0 major decision to No. 10 Nick Piccininni at 125 pounds, dropping Bentley’s record to 5-6 on the year and 0-5 in dual meets. The Panthers’ highest ranked wrestler, junior Dom Forys — ranked No. 8 at 133 pounds entering the match — then put his undefeated record on the line against the See Wrestling on page 10
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Wrestling, pg. 9
Stephanie Williams and true freshman Nika Markovic, who tallied three and four kills in the set, respectively. Maintaining the same two-point lead at 20-18, the Panthers won five of the next six points to take the set, 25-19, and even the match at one set apiece. Taking back momentum in the match, Dayton burst out to an early 10-3 lead in the third set, as Pitt did a poor job receiving the Flyers’ serves. Remaining behind by seven points at 125, the Panthers turned around the set by winning the next five points to pull within two at 12-10. Dayton widened the gap and attained a 23-17 lead — seemingly putting the set out of reach for Pitt. But anyone who’s followed the Panthers this year knows they’re never out of a match until the final kill. Pitt responded with a dominating seven-point run to take a 24-23 lead and assume control of set point. The Panthers then coughed up the next two points and found themselves in a 25-24 deficit, with the Flyers in control of set point. Again, Pitt came back, this time winning the next three points behind two Dayton errors and an ace by junior Mariah Bell to take the crucial third set, 27-25.
Cowboys’ No. 6-ranked Kaid Brock. Brock took control of the match early with a takedown and a four-point nearfall, and Forys trailed 6-2 after the first period. Forys recorded one more escape but couldn’t narrow the gap and lost a 10-3 decision to fall to 7-1 on the season. Pitt sophomore Robert Lee had the most challenging matchup against junior Dean Heil, the No. 1 141-pounder in the country and a defending national champion. Lee put up more of a fight than most have against Heil, who is 80-13 for his career. But in the end, Heil emerged with an 11-3 major decision. Panthers senior Mikey Racciato then dropped a 12-3 major decision to No. 3 Anthony Collica at 149 pounds to push Oklahoma State’s advantage to 15-0. Racciato’s record moves to 5-5 on the year. At 157 pounds, redshirt freshman Taleb Rahmani nearly scored Pitt’s first win but ended up losing a back-and-forth 12-10 decision to Jonce Blaylock, the Cowboys’ only unranked wrestler in the lineup. Pitt’s No. 13-ranked 165-pounder Te-
Shan Campbell then used a reversal and a near fall to take an early 6-4 lead against No. 4 Chandler Rogers of Oklahoma State, but Rogers came back with an escape and a takedown in the third period to capture a 10-6 decision. Campbell is now 7-2 on the year. The Panthers then sent out a pair of true freshmen to try to get on the board, but the Cowboys only added to their lead with a pair of major decisions. Pitt’s 174-pounder Austin Bell lost to No. 4 Kyle Crutchmer, 18-5, while Christian Dietrich dropped a 15-3 major decision to No. 5 Nolan Boyd at 184 pounds. Bell now sits at 5-5 on the year, while Dietrich falls to 5-7. Panthers redshirt sophomore Zach Bruce then suffered a 15-0 defeat via technical fall against No. 5 Preston Weigel to drop to 5-5 on the season. In the final match of the day, senior 197-pounder John Rizzo — forced to wrestle up at 285 pounds due to Ryan Solomon’s injury — fell in a 21-6 technical fall to No. 12 Austin Schafer, dropping his record to 2-4. Pitt will return home to host the West Virginia Mountaineers at the Fitzgerald Field House at 2 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 11.
Women’s Basketball, pg. 9 floor, we just didn’t match up with [the 49ers’] athleticism sometimes.” Wise’s first foul of the afternoon preceded the 49ers’ end to the Panthers’ scoring streak. This foul didn’t send any players to the free throw line. Gribble nailed her second three of the game before Pitt sophomore forward Kauai Bradley replaced her on the floor, 34-23. Before the quarter ended, Wise added a second personal foul just before the 49ers scored two points from a layup. Pitt ended this quarter in the lead, 35-28.A total of 32 points were added to the board: 23 from the Panthers and 9 from the 49ers. Strong defensive plays resulted in the Panthers holding the 49ers to a low second quarter. “Our defense is going to create our offense,” Wise said. “If we limit them to nine points and we score 23 that means we’re playing both ends of the floor. We ran in transition, we posted up strong, we moved the ball well and I think if we carried that over to every single quarter, we have a game.”
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Volleyball, pg. 8
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December 5, 2016
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