Lady Pirates score pair of C-USA wins

The ECU women's basketball team hit the hardwood this weekend, hosting Conference-USA top dogs UCF and Southern Miss.

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.

It looked like the Pirates would add another victory to the win column, but the conference powerhouse Golden Knights showed why they are a 9-2 team late in second.

For four painful minutes, UCF exercised its defensive muscle, forcing turnovers and capitalizing on their opportunities, as the Knights ate away at the sturdy 10-point ECU lead.

With 6:15 left in the game, Jelisa Caldwell tied the game at 59.

Continuing the blow-for-blow fight, Terry put one through from behind the arc to put the Pirates up by one, 70-69.

With 14 seconds to go, UCF looked to clinch, but as Angelica Mealing drove into the paint, she was called for the offense charge as she leveled ECU's Allison Spivey.

Spivey hit one-of-two from the line, as ECU took a one-bucket lead, 71-69. With the game clock drained to 10 seconds, Golden Knight forward Emma Cannon sent this one to overtime with a layup.

In overtime, neither team created a greater deficit than three points. Luckily for the Pirates, Terry flushed the rock home in the waning seconds to complete close to a flawless weekend.

ECU hosted first place Southern Miss on Friday. The Lady Pirates pulled out a character win by a score of 64-58, as they overcame a 15-point deficit to end the Golden Eagles' nine-game winning streak.

The Pirates finished the weekend showing C-USA they have the ability to win. Now the challenge is to end the nasty string of road loses.

"Now that we got these two good wins at home, hopefully it will give us confidence going on the road," Terry said.

The Pirates will attempt to remedy their road woes this Friday at Memphis.

This writer can be contacted at sports@theeastcarolinian.com.