Women's Basketball Announces 2002-03 Schedule
August 26, 2002 | Women's Basketball
"We are very excited about the upcoming season," said ECU head coach Sharon Baldwin. "We have a very challenging schedule this year that includes teams from the ACC and SEC. Our non-conference schedule will help to prepare us for our Conference USA opponents in the second half of the season."
East Carolina opens its season at the defending ACC Champion Duke Blue Devils on Friday, November 22. The Blue Devils went on to the NCAA Women's Final Four before falling to Oklahoma 86-71. The Pirates will then return home for their first game at Williams Arena at Minges Coliseum on Monday, November 25, when they play host to South Carolina State. The women will wrap up the November portion of the schedule with a trip to the UNCG Marriott Classic on November 29 and 30 in Greensboro, N.C. The tournament will feature Howard, UNCG, and Loyola (Md.)
ECU will open up December hosting the N.C. State Wolfpack on Tuesday, December 3. Then, the first full weekend of the month, December 7 and 8, the women will host the second annual U.S. Cellular Classic. ECU will face Bethune-Cookman in one first round match-up, while Alabama plays Liberty on the other side of the bracket. The Crimson Tide and the Flames will tip at 1 p.m. on Saturday, followed by ECU and Bethune-Cookman at 3 p.m. The consolation game will begin at 1 p.m. on Sunday, immediately followed by the championship game at 3 p.m.
The Pirates will face North Carolina A&T before breaking for the holidays, and will return to the court on Monday, December 30 in the Atlanta NW Marriott Classic, sponsored by Georgia Tech. The Pirates will face Florida Atlantic in the opening round at 1:00 p.m. while the Yellow Jackets will take on St. John's at 3:00 p.m. The consolation (1:00 p.m.) and championship (3:00 p.m.) games will take place on Tuesday, December 31.
Conference USA play begins for Baldwin and her team on January 12 in Charlotte when the Pirates take on the 49ers. Last season, the two teams split their two-game series. The Pirates continue league play, hosting Charlotte at home on Jan. 19, before hitting the road for match-ups with TCU (Jan. 24) and Houston (Jan. 26). East Carolina will face Saint Louis on Jan. 31 to wrap up the first month of play in the new year. Also in January the Pirates will tip-off against three non-conference opponents, including George Mason (Jan. 3), Gardner-Webb (Jan. 6) and Campbell (Jan. 14).
The Pirates will close out the remainder of their season in February and the second of March wrapping up the conference schedule. This season's Conference USA Women's Basketball Tournament will be March 6-9 at the Elma Roane Fieldhouse, on the campus of the University of Memphis in Memphis, Tenn.
The Pirates will play in two exhibition games prior to the start of the 2002-03 season. The Basketball Travelers will visit Williams Arena on November 11, while USC Spartanburg will make its second preseason appearance in a row on November 16.
November
11 Basketball Travelers (Exhibition)
16 USC Spartanburg (Exhibition)
22 at Duke
25 South Carolina State
29-30 at UNCG Marriott Classic
December
3 N.C. State
7-8 U.S. Cellular Classic
19 North Carolina A&T
30-31 at Atlanta NW Marriott Classic
January
3 George Mason
6 Gardner-Webb
10 at Charlotte
14 Campbell
19 Charlotte
24 at TCU
26 at Houston
31 Saint Louis
February
2 Memphis
7 Louisville
9 Cincinnati
14 at Marquette
16 at DePaul
21 at UAB
23 at South Florida
28 Tulane
March
2 Southern Miss
6-9 C-USA Tournament
