Lady Pirates Top Howard for First Win of Season
November 29, 2002 | Women's Basketball
Howard was the first to get on the board as Courtney Kirk hit a three at the 19:28 mark of the first half. Jackson would answer the call for ECU, hitting a three of her own to tie the game up. The lead would switch hands four times before East Carolina would take control of the game on a three-point shot by Kris May-Richardson. With an 18-15 lead, the Pirates would go on a 15-to-4 run to lead by 13, 33-20. It would be the Lady Pirates' largest lead of the game. ECU would go on to score just five more points in the half, to Howard's 10, taking the lead to the locker room 38-30. The Pirates shot 41.2 percent from the floor in the half and 50 percent from the free throw line.
Howard made the first two buckets of the game in the second half to cut the Pirate lead to four. Down by two, Howard's Laura Askew hit her lone three of the night to give the Bison the advantage once again. ECU would tie the score at 48, but Howard would pull ahead on a jumper by Courtney Kirk and maintain the lead for the next three minutes of play. East Carolina and Howard swapped leads for the next three minuted until the Lady Pirates went up 62-61 on a layup by Willis. ECU increased its lead from that moment on, scoring 10 of the next 14 points on free throws.
The Pirates took away the 76-66 win, which was Head Coach Sharon Baldwin's first at the helm of the Pirate bench.
Four Pirate players hit double scoring numbers in the game. Willis and Robich each had 16 points, Jackson had 11, and Ayana McWilliams had 14. Jackson led the way in rebounding with 13, Robich had nine and Willis had eight.
"Jennifer (Jackson) had a double-double tonight, and that was great for her," said Baldwin. "She was really effective on the boards tonight."
As a team the Pirates had 46 rebounds, six less than the Bison, and shot 40.6 percent from the floor. The women had 19 turnovers to Howard's 21 and 11 steals to Howard's seven.
"We had a great game where our team figured out how to win," said Baldwin. "When we were down by seven with nine minutes, we didn't panic, but we just chipped away at the lead. Down the stretch we were able to hit free throws. Overall it was a great team effort and everybody contributed to this win."
The Pirates will play tomorrow afternoon at 3 p.m. in the championship game of the UNCG Airport Marriott Classic. ECU will play the winner of the UNCG vs. Loyola (Md) game which is being played tonight at 5:30 p.m.
