Spring Break
Lady Pirates score pair of C-USA wins
Michael Perry
Issue date: 2/17/09 Section: Sports
|
Fortunately, successful home-stays have been ECU's saving grace and this past weekend was no exception as the Pirates knocked off Southern Miss., 64-58 and UCF, 86-83.
On Sunday, with a respectable number of Pirate fans in attendance, ECU battled past the 9-2 Golden Knights in an overtime showdown. Up by two baskets with 23 seconds left in the extra period, senior LaCoya Terry committed a costly foul on UCF's Chelsea Wiley, who was attempting to hit a three. Wiley went to the charity stripe and earned all three, putting the Golden Knights up by one, 83-82.
With 16 seconds left on the clock, Terry made up for her error as she drove the court, found her lane, and hit a huge jumper, putting the Lady Pirates up by a bucket, 84-83.
The Pirates (15-10, 6-6) defense had to hold on for eight more seconds, as the Knights looked to answer.
With the clock drained to two seconds, Kim Gay blocked Golden Knight guard Aisha Patrick, brought down a defensive board, and drew a foul. Gay headed to the line, hitting both of her free throws to seal up the ECU victory, 86-83.
This game had overtime written all over it, as the Pirates and Golden Knights went shot-for-shot from the opening minutes.
The UCF defense held ECU standouts Jasmine Young and Terry to three points combined.
"We know we have people around us who can score," Terry said. "It's good knowing you have teammates who can step up when people double team us."
ECU made it a true team effort in the first, as eight players contributed points on the board. The lead changed seven times in the first half.
The Golden Knights covered the Pirates well in the first half, keeping them close at all times.
"This team is a long team," coach Sharon Baldwin-Tener said. "They make a lot of things happen."
With 22 seconds left in the half, freshman Jean Best hit a low post jumper to send her team to the locker room with a one-point advantage, 25-24.
In the second stanza, the Lady Pirates came out sporting a newfound intensity. ECU upped the tempo and overwhelmed the physical UCF team with an onslaught of offense. The Pirates gained a commanding 10-point lead halfway through the second and led the half for 12 minutes.
Terry made up for lost time as she scored 20 points. Youngsters Crystal Wilson and Best also stepped up as they combined for 20 points to tune the Pirates into some second half momentum.
Be the first to comment on this story