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.