Oklahoma City ? Just to get as far as the final 16, Agnus Berenato and her Pitt Panthers had to take a 61/2-hour cross-country flight and beat two Pacific Northwest teams on a court that proved to be not-so-neutral.

The next stop on their road to the Final Four? A trip to Oklahoma City that proved lengthier than expected, with top-seeded Oklahoma and All-America center Courtney Paris awaiting them.

“I missed, like, geography in school — and I thought it was only like an hour flight. It was almost three hours, and we had a charter,” Berenato said Saturday, never losing her ever-present smile. “It was almost three hours, and I was like, ‘Are you kidding me?”‘

While setting a school record for wins in a season, Pittsburgh (25-7) has found itself on a daunting road to try to reach the regional finals for the first time in school history. First, the Panthers were sent west to Seattle to face Montana. A win there earned them a chance to face 12th-seeded Gonzaga, which had already pulled off a home-state upset of Xavier.

“It has been rough, when you look at a lot of the other teams that either had home seeds or they’ve been right up the road a piece and then they’ve come back home,” said Berenato, who led Pitt to its first NCAA Tournament berth two years ago and its first regional semifinal last year.

“But honestly, it’s all part of the NCAA. I think it makes it so exciting and so special. We handle whatever we’re given, and I think that that’s what you do in life. And basketball’s just like the game of life.”

Sophomore Shayla Scott, Pitt’s leading rebounder, suggested that the West Coast trip prepared the Panthers for what they’ll face tonight — along with a rugged Big East schedule that featured visits to Connecticut and Louisville and the school’s first win at Rutgers.

“Just being in that whole environment when you have a lot of people rooting against you really helps you just to stay calm and to stay together as a team and make sure you’re focused and able to listen to your coaches,” Scott said. “I think that we’re well prepared for that.”

While Pitt was crisscrossing the country, returning home to attend classes in between trips, the Sooners (30-4) were able to sneak in an extra night in their own beds before switching to a hotel to set up their gameday routine.

Oklahoma coach Sherri Coale pointed out that while top-seeded Duke lost on Michigan State’s home floor and seventh-seeded Rutgers advance with two wins at home, there was a handful of teams that lost in their home states or on their home court — including Iowa, Notre Dame, Georgia and San Diego State.