No. 23 Pirates seek ninth straight against Seahawks

After one of their more complete outings of the season in an 8-0 shutout victory against in-state rival Elon on Tuesday night, the 23rd ranked Diamond Bucs will host another in-state rival tonight when UNCW visits Clark-LeClair Stadium.

The D-Bucs (17-8), who are riding an eight-game win streak, will start freshman righty Joseph Hughes (1-0, 3.77 era). Hughes, who has appeared in four games, has made mid-week starts versus Gardner Webb and High Point. He has allowed 17 hits in 14.1 innings of work. Opponents are batting .293 against him.

UNCW (13-10), who has already captured mid-week victories over NC State (9-6) and Wake Forest (10-3), is coming off a series win over Towson.

The Seahawks will be sending 6'3, 203, redshirt junior Daniel Cropper to the mound. Cropper (1-1, 3.49) has split time between a starting and relieving role this season. He has started four games and was excellent in his last start at Elon. The Phoenix mustered just a single run on three hits in seven innings off the Maryland native. However, Cropper has allowed two runs and six hits in his last 1.1 innings of action. That work came in relief appearances versus Rhode Island and Towson.

Offensively, UNCW has five regulars hitting .300 or better. Hunter Ridge leads the team with his .378 mark while Grayson Evans tops the team in four different offensive categories: hits (35), runs (23), doubles (9) and total bases (50). Evans is hitting .376 on the year and brings a 16-game hitting streak into tonight's contest. Robbie Monday and Cody Stanley have combined to hit over half of UNCW's home runs, as they have seven and six, respectively.

The Pirates took two of three from UNCW last season and are 9-2 against the Seahawks under fifth year head coach Billy Godwin.

No. 23 Pirates look to extend win streak to eight against Elon

*Dustin Harrington (pictured above) is hitting a team best .455 after going 12-of-20 last week.

The Diamond Pirates (16-8) take a seven-game win streak into tonight's match-up with in-state rival Elon.

ECU has enjoyed many intense, competitive match-ups with the Southern Conference power in recent seasons and tonight should be more of the same.

The Phoenix (15-9, 5-4) has won five straight and is coming off a perfect week. Elon earned two mid-week victories (15-10, 4-3 in 10 innings) at No. 5 Clemson last week before sweeping at league foe Davidson on the weekend.

Elon will start southpaw Dylan Clark. Clark has struggled in just over seven innings of action this season.

The D-Bucs will counter with hard throwing righty Zach Woods. Woods, who has made nine appearances, has started four games and compiled a 3-1 record and 4.67 ERA. Opponents are hitting .272 against him. He has struck out 34 batters in 27 innings of work.

Pirates should extend winning streak to seven against Eagles

After taking mid-week games against High Point (7-5) and North Carolina A&T (15-6), Billy Godwin's club will now host winless NC Central for three games at Clark-LeClair Stadium.

The Eagles (0-19) have given up ten or more runs in all but five games and have surrendered 24 or more runs on seven occasions.

NCCU is hitting just .232 and has a team ERA of 15.56. Opponents are hitting .419.

There may be 70-plus runs scored by the Diamond Pirates this weekend. The team average and home run total should increase substantially. The D-Bucs are currently hitting .315 with 34 HR.

Prime time for Diamond Pirates to get on a roll

After a 7-3 start--which included a 3-3 mark against UVA (17-3, 5-1) and South Carolina (16-4, 3-0), ECU proceeded to lose three straight on the West Coast before taking the last of three games against Pepperdine. Its struggles continued last week when the Pirates' pitching failed them in a 13-12 loss at High Point and a 11-9 series opening defeat to Monmouth.

However, the Diamond Bucs responded like a champion with 11-4 and 16-2 victories that will hopefully spark a much-needed win streak as the mid-point of the season quickly approaches.

After scoring no more than three runs in any of its four games--which were certainly against better pitching--in Southern California, the ECU bats produced a .369 average, 17 home runs and 56 runs in five games last week.

The week saw junior rightfielder Devin Harris' bat come to life. Harris was hitting just .239 after Tuesday's game against Gardner Webb, but is currently hitting .323 after hitting .524 with five home runs, four doubles and 12 RBI for the week.

The Pirates' pitching left much to be desired for much of the week, but finished strong with Seth Maness and Mike Wright delivering solid starts versus Monmouth.

The week will begin with East Carolina being presented an opportunity to avenge last week's loss to High Point. After its re-match with the Panthers, the Pirates will play four "should-win" games when it faces NC A&T (6-10) on Wednesday before welcoming winless NC Central (0-18) for three this weekend. The Eagles are hitting just .231 as a team and have an ERA of over 16. They've already given up 24 or more runs seven times this season.

While it's way too early to press the panic button, the Pirates really need to be 16-8 after this week as they attempt to build their resume' where they can host at season's end.

Lookin' like Lebo

It's not official yet, but it looks like recently dismissed Auburn head coach Jeff Lebo will be named the new head men's basketball coach at East Carolina.

Pending the approval of the ECU Board of Trustees, Lebo could be announced as early as Tuesday.

Lebo, 43, compiled a 96-93 record in his six seasons at the helm of the Auburn program. The 2008-2009 season saw his club win 24 games, which was the second highest total in school history.

Prior to Auburn, the former UNC-Chapel Hill guard was the head coach at UT-Chattanooga and Tennessee Tech. He led the Mocs to a 40-20 mark in two seasons while going 75-43 at TTU. In his four seasons at TTU, Lebo won more games each year. His records were: 12-15, 16-12, 20-9 and 27-7 (NIT).

Lebo has a career mark of 211-156 (57.5%) and had also been an assistant at South Carolina ('93-'98), Vandy ('92-'93) and East Tennessee ('90-'92).

While he may not be a popular choice with many Pirate fans due to his alma mater being UNC-CH, the hire allows Terry Holland to bring in a proven winner with NC/Southeast ties that has 12 years of HC experience.

Additionally, his Tar Heel connections could also help with recruiting, scheduling and other aspects of a program that is trying to become a winner.

The Pirates have suffered 13 straight losing seasons and haven't won more than 14 games since 1996-97.

Will East Carolina look at Lutz?

East Carolina AD Terry Holland now has another possible candidate for the Pirates' men's hoops job as intra-state rival Charlotte fired long-time coach Bobby Lutz on Monday.

Lutz, 51, compiled a 218-158 mark (.579) in his 12 seasons guiding his alma mater. He went 19-12 this season, but the 49ers failed to make the postseason after dropping seven of their final eight games. Charlotte went to five NCAA's and posted five 20-win seasons under Lutz.

Will Wright State's Brownell give the Bucs a look?

While initial favorite Joe Dooley may still be in the running to be the next head men's basketball coach at East Carolina despite speculation saying otherwise, another coach that would be an excellent hire for Terry Holland would be Wright State's Brad Brownell.

While Brownell has a pretty good job and grew up in the Midwest, he had a very successful four-year stint at UNCW. He went 83-40 while leading the Seahawks and has gone 83-44 thus far with the Raiders. He has eight years of head coaching experience and is just 41.

Brownell, who has only won less than 19 games once, makes at least $365,000 (base salary) plus any other incentives. However, he may be interested in getting back to the region because he may have never left UNCW had it not been for leadership issues.

With a practice facility in the works and an increased salary supposedly prepared to be offered, Brownell may be a candidate the Pirates could have a legit shot with.

McCarthy to resign?

According to sources from inside the college basketball world within the state of North Carolina, Mack McCarthy will resign at East Carolina to assume a fundraising job within the athletic department.

McCarthy, 57, is in his third year at the helm of the Pirate basketball program and has three years remaining on the five-year deal he received after going 11-19 as interim coach in 2007-08. Last season, more improvement was shown as ECU went 13-17.

However, the Pirates are just 10-19 this season and are going to suffer the program's 13th consecutive losing campaign--which is easily the longest streak in school history.

Where will Terry Holland turn for his third basketball hire in 5 years?

While the Pirates' AD has been openly against second tenured coaches in the past, don't be surprised if ECU chooses to bring former coach and current Kansas assistant Joe Dooley back to Greenville.

Dooley, 44, compiled a 57-52 mark from 1995-99 and spent eight years at ECU between his time as a head coach and as an assistant on Eddie Payne's staff.

Cooper, No. 10 Cocks cool off No. 13 Pirates' bats

On what was a very windy and cold day at Clark-LeClair Stadium, USC's Blake Cooper turned in an excellent outing as he worked a sensational seven innings and highlighted a 6-2 win over No. 13 East Carolina.

The tenth-ranked Gamecocks (4-0) took a 1-0 lead in the top of the second. Nick Ebert led off the inning with a double down the left field line and then scored on a two-base error when Jeffery Jones lined a Maness' offering to right field that was misplayed by ECU right fielder Devin Harris.

USC upped its advantage to 2-0 in the third and thats where the score remained until the Gamecocks plated another single run in the fifth when centerfielder Whit Merrifield singled and came around to score via a couple wild pitches.

ECU scored its only runs in the bottom of that inning when Corey Thompson lined a two-run shot to right field. It was the sophomore's second career HR--the other came against USC in last year's regional.

Ray Tanner's club responded with two runs in the top of the sixth to extend its margin back to three at 5-2.

The Pirates loaded the bases with two outs in the bottom of the eighth when Austin Homan walked, but freshman John Wooten's deep drive to right center was caught up against the wall by the Gamecocks' centerfielder Whit Merrifield--only feet shy of a go-ahead grand slam.

South Carolina scored a final insurance run in the top of the ninth off ECU reliever Sthil Sowers.

ECU junior Seth Maness fell to 0-2 on the season. Maness, who threw 88 pitches, was approaching his pitch count when he left the game with one out in the top of the fifth, but was also hobbled by a foot or ankle injury suffered when covering first an inning or two earlier. He allowed two runs--one earned--on six hits in his 4.1 innings of work.

Shawn Armstrong (1.2 IP, 2 R, O ER, 1 H, 1 K, 1 BB) and Patrick Somers (.1 IP) also saw action out of the ECU bullpen. The relief effort by Sowers (2.2 IP, O ER, 1 ER, 3 H, 4 K, 1 BB) was encouraging given how the junior struggled in 2009 and early this season.

ECU will meet USC in game two of the series on Saturday at 2pm.

No. 13 Pirates overwhelm ODU

After dropping two of three in their season opening series against now No. 1 UVA, the Diamond Pirates powered past ODU, 11-2, on Tuesday afternoon.

The Monarchs (3-1) struck first by pushing across a run in the top of the second, but the Pirates would knot the game in the bottom of the frame with freshman John Wooten's third homerun of the season. ECU would push across two more in the inning and a single run in the third. It remained 4-1 until the sixth when ECU busted it open with a five-spot on the strength of senior Kyle Roller's first homerun of the season--a three-run shot to left center. The Pirates tacked on two more in the bottom of the eighth when sophomore catcher Zach Wright homered to center.

As well the Pirates swung the bats, they were just as good on the mound. Zach Woods, who struggled in his ECU debut on Friday vs. UVA, went six strong innings--allowing just a run on three hits. He struck out eight while walking just one.

Brad Mincey, Mike Wright and Seth Simmons each posted two strikeouts in their inning of relief. Wright did allow a solo homerun to right center, which accounted for ODU's second run.

East Carolina (2-2) will now prepare for its second high-profile series in as many weekends. The college baseball world's eyes will be focused on Clark-LeClair Stadium, as the tenth-ranked South Carolina Gamecocks will visit for a highly-anticipated three-game set.

After its season-opening series with No. 2 UVA attracted nearly 15,000 fans, this match-up will likely draw just as many and quite possibly more if the weather is as good as it was last weekend.

Softball opener suddenly a lot more challenging

After missing last year's NCAA Tournament despite posting an impressive 40-15 record, Tracey Kee made it a point to play the most challenging schedule she could possibly play in 2010.

That schedule features a date with 2009 national champ Washington, as well as two games with 2009 national runner-up Florida.

The Pirates were originally scheduled to open the season with the Redbirds of Illinois State and not face the No. 3/5 Gators until next weekend. However, due to a rainout on day one of the DeMarini Tournament in Tampa and the subsequent re-shuffling of the schedule, East Carolina will now face Florida at noon on Saturday. After taking on the Gators, ECU will meet USF at 5pm.

Seasoned veterans begin play at South Florida tourney

14th year East Carolina softball coach Tracey Kee will be attempting to earn her 575th victory today when the Pirates begin the 2010 season at 12:30 against Illinois State in Tampa at the USF DeMarini Tournament.

That contest with the Redbirds will be the first of five scheduled games for Kee's club on opening weekend. Following its game with Illinois State, ECU will turnaround and face Florida Gulf Coast at approximately 2:30.

On Saturday, the Pirates will get an early start when they face Canisius at 10am before meeting host South Florida at 5.

ECU will conclude play in Tampa when it tangles with Long Island at 9 o'clock on Sunday morning.

Today's games may feature North Carolina transfer Faith Sutton seeing her first time in the circle since choosing to don the purple and gold.

Pirate women stay perfect at home, set up showdown with Tulane

After a lackluster first half against UTEP, the East Carolina women's basketball team pulled it together and picked the Miners apart following halftime to keep its perfect home mark in place.

The Lady Pirates, who are 12-0 at home this season, will now host first-place Tulane in a critical CUSA contest on Saturday at 1pm.

The game is one of only two remaining home contests for Sharon Baldwin-Tener's club.

The combination of the ladies' success and such an important game may be enough to give the "Drive for Five" initiative--the name for the push to have 5,000 fans in attendance and set the school record for a women's game--a realistic chance.

Through 12 games, the women have averaged 1,761--including a large crowd of 2,143 against Memphis.

The attendance record was set in 1981 when 4,500 saw the Pirates play No. 6 Southern Cal. (ecupirates.com)

In 2008, a contest with UCF drew 3,227--the program's fifth largest crowd. (ecupirates.com)

Don't be surprised if the effort produces a season-high mark of 3-3,500, but falls a little shy of the record. Either way, such a crowd would make a tremendous statement about the program's growth and direction under eighth year Head Coach Baldwin-Tener.

Pirates pull out much-needed, 71-68, victory over Tulane

After leading by as many as 13 points and not trailing for the game's first 35-plus minutes, you wondered how Mack McCarthy's club would respond when it fell behind with just under four and a half minutes to play.

Well, the Pirates (8-16, 2-8) bounced back by sinking five of six free throws and getting a few key stops to capture a desperately needed three-point win over the Green Wave (7-16, 2-8).

East Carolina's biggest lead of 13 came at 31-18 with just over seven minutes to play in the first half. ECU took a 41-31 advantage into the locker room.

Junior point guard Brock Young led the way with 18 points on the strength of an 8-of-10 effort from the charity stripe. He also dished out nine assists and pulled down six rebounds.

Jamar Abrams, the Pirates' top three-point shooter, hit four trifectas and finished with 16 points.
Darrius Morrow and Jontae Sherrod also reached double figures, as they had 11 each.

ECU will travel to CUSA leader UTEP on Saturday.

Will Pirates get after it or give up against Green Wave on Wednesday night?

Following one of the worst losses in the program's history, how will East Carolina's men's basketball team respond at Williams Arena-Minges Coliseum on Wednesday night when struggling Tulane visits?

Will apathy prevail and another lackluster effort be put forth? Or will the 51-point humiliating defeat the Pirates suffered at Marshall on Saturday finally be what causes this team to say enough is enough and make them determined to leave it all on the court from this point forward?

Against the Herd, ECU (7-16, 1-8)--which has now lost three straight and eight of nine--trailed 33-21 at the break, but proceeded to lay down in the second half when it was outscored 67-28.

ECU had 22 turnovers compared to only four assists versus Marshall. When it did hang on to the basketball, it made just 25 percent of its shots and only 1-of-14 from long range.

The good news for the Pirates is that their lone league victory this season came at Tulane on January 24. ECU, which played very poorly in many phases, was able to grind out a 61-46 over an ice cold Green Wave club.

The Pirates haven't played any better at home than on the road this year. They are currently 4-6 on their homecourt and three of their four wins came against non-Division I competition. ECU has dropped four straight in Minges and each of those defeats was by atleast 11 points.

Tulane (7-15, 2-7) is currently in tenth place and is coming off a 66-48 home loss to SMU on Saturday. The Green Wave may still be without point guard Kevin Sims. Kris Richard (13.3 ppg) and Kendall Thomas have been providing Dave Dickerson's club with strong backcourt play.

With seven games left in the regular season, this is a chance to pick up a win that ECU can ill-afford to let slip by if it hopes to reach the ten win plateau.

Annual Pirate Signing Day Tailgate Party

It's that day. You know, the day that drives college football fans into a frenzy. Wednesday marks the beginning of college football's signing period and as has become the tradition in recent years, the most diehard Pirate supporters will join behind the Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium north stands to celebrate the occasion.

The merriment will begin around noon and the event is headed up by long-time Pirate Allan Powell.

Former Pirate Marc Yellock to return as DL coach?

Marc Yellock, who has spent the last four seasons on the Elon coaching staff, may return home to lead the Pirate defensive line.

Yellock, who played from1997-2000 after redshirting in1996, spent 2004 and 2005 as the ECU Defensive graduate assistant.

Lady Pirates maul cold-shooting Memphis, 76-59

The first nine minutes of the Lady Pirates' key CUSA game against visiting Memphis were very indicative of the type of evening it would be.

ECU, which improved to 17-4 overall and 6-2 in CUSA with the 17-point win, went up 13-5 on a Kelly Smith three at the 11:03 mark. This lead was built despite nine turnovers being commited during that time.

The lead grew to 12 at 26-14 when Kim Gay knocked down a three with just under six minutes to play. The Tigers cut their deficit in half with a 10-4 spurt over 3:26, but the Lady Pirates closed the half on a 7-0 run to take a 37-24 cushion into the locker room.

ECU shot a sizzling 65.2 percent (15-of-23) in the first 20 minutes, but turned the ball over 15 times.

The Lady Pirates would push the lead to 22 twice in the first seven minutes of the second half. Memphis didn't get closer than 14 the rest of the way.

How cold were the Tigers? Well, ECU took 23 less shots (52 to 75), but made seven more and won going away despite its 25 turnovers and 12-of-25 effort at the free throw line. The Lady Pirates did outrebound Memphis, 48-37.

Ashley Clarke, who had 16 points and 8 assists, was one of four ECU players to score in double figures. Kim Gay recorded a double-double with 12 points and 11 boards.

The Pirates' victories over UAB and Memphis place them in first place by a half game.

With the win, ECU improves to 11-0 at home and has won 23 of its last 25 games at Williams Arena-Minges Coliseum.

Ruff to bring in three former Red Raiders for offensive staff?

Don't be surprised to see three coaches with Texas Tech ties join Ruffin McNeill's East Carolina staff.

Dennis Simmons, a 1996 BYU alum, was a ten-year veteran of former coach Mike Leach's staff at Tech. He coached the outside wide receivers and tutored star Michael Crabtree. He also led the team's FCA huddle. Simmons should be excellent for teaching a talented group of returning Pirate receivers their new scheme.

Clay McGuire served as the Red Raiders running backs coach in 2009. McGuire, who played for the Red Raiders, was the special teams coordinator in 2008 after serving as an offensive graduate assistant in 2007.

Brandon Jones, who was recently named an offensive quality control assistant at Oklahoma State, may be coming on board to tutor the Pirate offensive line. Jones played at Tech from 2002 to 2005.

While two of the three potential additions have limited experience, one was good enough to coach the running backs under the veteran Leach and the other played in the system before being appointed by his previous coach Holgerson at Oklahoma State. Therefore, the Pirate Nation shouldn't have many initial concerns about these hires.

Pirates return home to face Rice following rare road win

Following a rare road win on Sunday at Tulane, the East Carolina men's basketball team will look to build on that momentum Saturday evening when it welcomes Rice to Williams Arena-Minges Colisem.

The Owls (6-13, 0-6), who are led by second-year coach Ben Braun, are currently in last place in CUSA. They are the only team that hasn't won a league game and also had the week off. Rice is reeling as it has lost seven straight and nine of ten after a 5-4 start.

The Owls are yet to win a road game, as they are 0-8, but they did take league-leading Tulsa (16-3, 5-0) to the wire on the Golden Hurricane's homecourt the last time out before falling 62-58.

Rice shoots less than 40 percent (39.9) from the floor and averages just 64.3 ppg (11th in CUSA). The Owls are led by Tamir Jackson, who leads the team in scoring (11.5) and assists (3). Arsalan Kazemi, who had 8 points and 11 rebounds at Tulsa, is second on the time with his 10.4 points per game average and leads the club in rebounding (8.3). Connor Frizzelle has made a team-high 30 three-pointers.

With the exception of their overtime loss to George Washington, the Pirates haven't played well at home this season. They have struggled to beat three non-D1 foes (UVA-Wise, St. Andrews and Coker) and lost three games by 17 or more (Clemson, Marshall and Houston). Their home mark is 4-4 and the only Division I victory was against NC Central.

Could Florida International's Cary Godette be next Pirate DL coach?

(Photo from fiusports.com)


<----Coach Godette's bio at www.fiusports.com

Could former East Carolina letterman and assistant coach Cary Godette be Ruffin McNeil's choice as the Pirates' new defensive line coach?

Godette, who just completed his first season at FIU, has also made coaching stops at Rutgers, NC State, Georgia Tech and Cincinnati.

After graduating from ECU in 1976, Godette was Pat Dye's defensive line coach in 1977. He also spent the 1990-91 seasons on Bill Lewis' staff before following him to Georgia Tech after the memorable Peach Bowl season.

His hometown is the Eastern North Carolina town of Havelock.

Ruffin and Godette were members of the same defense that helped lead ECU to a 1976 Southern Conference title.

The best option would be for Rock Roggeman to recover from his bout with lymphoma and be chosen to continue in the position he was forced to take a leave of absence from about four games into the 2009 season.

Former Pirate, Doll, to ECU as Special Teams coach?

(Photo from aggieathletics.com)


East Carolina head coach Ruffin McNeill has been on the job a little less than a week, but he's already hired both of his coordinators and his assistant head coach.

Former Texas Tech inside receivers coach and Mike Leach understudy Lincoln Riley will be the offensive coordinator for the Pirates. Riley, who is just 26 years old, will certainly be one of the youngest--maybe the youngest--coordinators in the nation. However, while Riley will certainly have plenty to learn, the learning curve shouldn't be quite as steep due to his exposure to this particular system.

John Wiley, long-time defensive coordinator at FCS power Appalachian State and a close friend of McNeill, has been named the assistant head coach and linebackers coach.

Former Texas Tech cornerbacks coach Brian Mitchell, who was recently the defensive backs coach at Memphis for a week, was hired by McNeill to coordinate the ECU defense. Mitchell, who spent four seasons with Ruffin in Lubbock, played at BYU and in the NFL before returning to Provo where he spent 11 seasons on the sidelines.

The only holdover from Skip Holtz's staff will be recruiting coordinator and WR coach Donnie Kirkpatrick. Kirkpatrick's presence will certainly help make the transition easier--particularly with recruiting.

Now, McNeill must hire a QB coach--if Riley isn't going to assume that duty, a running backs coach, a defensive line coach, a special teams coach and Director of Football operations.

Perhaps McNeill will consider former Pirate and current Texas A&M special teams coordinator Kirk Doll for the job. Doll, who was a candidate for the head job in 2002 and perhaps 2004, has a wealth of experience at major programs and in the NFL. He has been an assistant head coach at Notre Dame and LSU.

A dadgum beautiful victory in New Orleans for Men's Hoops

(Photo from ecupirates.com)

To be honest, there wasn't much that was beautiful about the East Carolina men's basketball team's, 61-46, win at Tulane on Sunday--their first ever at Fogelman Arena.

However, Mack McCarthy's words following his team's ugly victory in the Big Easy aren't surprising given that his club had dropped five straight and seven of eight entering the game with the Green Wave.

"There are a lot of confounding things about this win,” East Carolina
third-year coach Mack McCarthy said after leading the Pirates to
their first-ever win at Tulane’s Fogelman Arena. “(But) it’s still a
dadgum beautiful victory.”

Those confounding things Coach Mack referred to were 23 turnovers, an 8-of-18 effort at the free throw line and 17 offensive rebounds allowed.

The win also came despite the fact the Pirates--who lost 68-53 at Southern Miss on Saturday night-- were playing their second game in less than 24 hours.

Darrius Morrow, who was returning from a three-game suspension, finished with a team-high 17 points.

Freshman Corvonn Gaines continued to play an increased role, as he started both contests. He scored nine points while playing a career-high 32 minutes against USM.

ECU career assist leader Brock Young had eight assists, but nine turnovers.

However, those weren't converted into many points as the cold-shooting Green Wave trailed by 19 on more than one occasion and never got closer than six in the second half despite plenty of chances.

Coach Mack said the win could best be summed up by the old political axiom, which states, "If you can't dazzle them with brilliance, baffle them with B.S."

The Pirates definitely didn't dazzle anyone with their victory over Dave Dickerson's struggling, point guard-less Tulane club; however, I think it's safe to assume Coach Mack and his staff wouldn't mind winning with the same formula against Rice on Saturday.

Pirate Women look to bounce back against Blazers

After dropping consecutive contests for the first time this season, the East Carolina women's basketball team will return home to play a pair of games against teams that are currently ahead of it in the CUSA standings.

The Lady Pirates (15-4, 4-2) will host UAB on Thursday evening before meeting Memphis on Saturday afternoon at 4:30. The Blazers and Tigers possess 4-1 league marks and are in a three-way tie with SMU atop CUSA.

UAB (10-7, 4-1) features fabulous freshman guard Jala Harris. Harris averages 15.5 points per game and is one of top shooters in CUSA. She also leads the team with 59 assists.

Tamika Duker is second on the team with her 12.6 point per game mark and is the team's leading rebounder (7.1 rpg). Amanda Peterson is the team's top three-point threat with 41.

The Blazers had won six straight and eight of nine prior to a one-point loss to Houston over the weekend.

Memphis (11-7, 4-1), who plays at Marshall on Thursday night, has won three straight and six of seven. The Tigers' Brittany Carter is averaging 19.5 points and 8.5 rebounds in the last two games.

ECU, which averages a league best 74.8 points per contest, was limited to 59 points in a 73-59 loss at SMU on Saturday night.

After three consecutive road games, the Pirates will now play five of their next seven at Williams Arena-Minges Coliseum.

With ten games remaining before the CUSA tourney in Tulsa, Sharon Baldwin-Tener's club will look to solidify their second postseason bid in three seasons. At this point, it looks as though the ladies should earn a WNIT unless they really struggle down the stretch.