Lady Pirates Earn Exhibition Win
November 11, 2002 | Women's Basketball
The Lady Pirates were the first on the board tonight when Courtney Willis hit a layup at 19:31 of the first half. The women went up 6-0 before the Travelers were able to put a mark on the board. The Swedes first two points came on a jump shot by Helena Ahlstrom, who would finish the game with just four points. East Carolina relinquished its lead on three occasions in the first half. Down by one, Therese Engstrom gave the visitors their first lead of the game. The visiting squad kept the game close for much of the first, not allowing the Pirate lead to go much higher than four points until the end of the half when Samantha Pankey hit a three-point shot to put the women up by seven The Lady Pirates would go on to score four additional points in the half, and take an 11 point lead into the locker room at halftime.
East Carolina came out strong in the second half, increasing its lead to 15 on a layup by Alisha Bishop. The Pirates would maintain their double figure lead until the 11:27 mark of the half when the lead was cut to nine. The Swedish team would come within five points at the 9:57 mark, but that's as close as they would come to taking control of the game, as ECU held on to the lead to earn its first exhibition win on the year.
"I was pleased with the way we held our composure," said ECU Head Coach Sharon Baldwin. "They (the Basketball Travelers) hit a couple of threes and drove in and got to the free throw line. I was pleased with the way we responded." For the Pirates, Willis lead all scorers with 22 points on the night, shooting 100 percent from the floor. She was six for seven from the free throw line and also contributed eight rebounds.
"You can't do any better than that," said Baldwin. "I think she needs to rebound a little better, but, of course, that's what a coach is going to say. She had a very good game. She can hit the basket and does a good job posting down there for us."
Tali Robich, Pankey, and Bishop all played the guard position tonight. Robich had 18 points and eight rebounds with Pankey had three points and Bishop had eight.
"I think all three of them did good things for us tonight," commented Baldwin. "I think they all bring what they can do to the table. We've got to settle in and get one person that really stands out for us."
Katie Cloud led the newcomers with eight points and two rebounds, and Jennifer Jackson added nine points and five rebounds.
The Pirates will host USC Spartanburg this Saturday, November 16 in the second of two exhibition games for this season. That game is set for 2:00 p.m. at Williams Arena at Minges Coliseum. The women will open up the 2002-03 regular season at Duke on November 22 at 7:00 p.m.
