ECU Announces 2004-05 Women's Basketball Schedule
September 23, 2004 | Women's Basketball
GREENVILLE, N.C. ? Fourteen games against 2004 postseason participants, including two preseason top-25 teams, eight NCAA Tournament teams and a pair of holiday tournaments highlight the 2004-05 East Carolina women's basketball schedule, released on Thursday by school officials.
The Pirates begin their third season under head coach Sharon Baldwin-Tener against Duquesne on Friday, Nov. 19 inside Williams Arena at Minges Coliseum. Three of ECU's next four games, all on the road, will be against 2004 postseason participants.
Sandwiched in the middle of a trip to the nation's capital to face George Washington (Nov. 21) and then south to Georgia for a Wednesday night tilt against Savannah State (Dec. 1), the Pirates will hit the west coast as they participate in the annual Four Points LAX Surf N' Slam Shootout in Malibu, Calif. The day after Thanksgiving (Nov. 26), ECU and Montana will match-up against one another in the opening round at 4 p.m., while host school Pepperdine will take on instate rival Cal State Fullerton at 6:30 p.m., with the consolation game beginning at 4 p.m. on Saturday followed by the championship game at 6:30 p.m.
The 2004-05 season welcomes the Pirates annual Lady Pirate Invitational, Dec. 4-5, which should bring a lot of excitement to Williams Arena. Bayor, who is ranked preseason No. 8 nationally and making their first-ever trip to Greenville, will kick off tournament play against Jackson State University in the first round at 1 p.m. and the Pirates will face Stephen F. Austin at 3 p.m., with the consolation game beginning at 1 p.m. on Sunday followed by the championship game at 3 p.m.
"Our team is excited and anxious about the upcoming season," said Baldwin-Tener. "We have a difficult non-conference schedule with five of our opponents seeing postseason play last year. If we can compete, win some games and build a little confidence, we should be well prepared for Conference USA play come January."
December and early January will see Baldwin-Tener's crew close out its non-conference schedule with home games against Wake Forest (Dec. 12), West Virginia (Dec. 21) and North Carolina A&T (Jan. 4), and road match-ups with in-state rival UNC-Wilmington (Dec. 18), former Colonial Athletic Conference foe Virginia Commonwealth (Dec. 20), and Buffalo University (Jan. 2).
Conference USA play begins for the Pirates with two home games against Memphis (Jan. 7) and Saint Louis (Jan. 9). The Pirates first road swing of the C-USA season pits ECU up against No. 24 DePaul (Jan. 14), Marquette (Jan. 16), and in-state rival Charlotte 49ers (Jan. 23), before closing out the first month of play with home games against Southern Miss (Jan. 28) and Tulane (Jan. 30).
"I think the play in C-USA will be tougher this year," stated Baldwin-Tener. "Last year we (C-USA) sent four teams to the NCAA Tournament and five to the WNIT, which can easily be done again this year. The good news is that we have a lot of winnable games at home this season. Last year three of our road games went into overtime and we came up a little short. Those games will be at home this year and with the home court advantage, those losses can become wins and it can make the difference in going to postseason play, which is our goal."
The month of February sees the Pirates closing out their schedule with seven conference games. The Pirates will face two NCAA Tournament teams from 2004 on the road in Houston (Feb. 18) and TCU (Feb. 20), and will face four participants from the 2004 Women's NIT in USF (Feb. 5), Cincinnati (Feb. 11), Louisville (Feb. 13) and Charlotte (Feb. 26). ECU will also travel to UAB on Feb. 7.
This season's Conference USA Women's Basketball Tournament will be March 3-6 at Halton Arena, on the campus of the Charlotte 49ers in Charlotte, N.C.
2004-05 East Carolina Women's Basketball Schedule
November?19, Duquesne; 21, at George Washington; 26-27, at Four Points LAX Surf N' Turf Slam Shootout.
December?1, at Savannah State; 4-5, Lady Pirate Invitational; 12, Wake Forest; 18, at UNC Wilmington; 21, West Virginia; 30, at Virginia Commonwealth.
January?2, at Buffalo University; 4, N.C. A&T; 7, Memphis; 9, Saint Louis; 14, at DePaul; 16, at Marquette; 23, at Charlotte; 28, Southern Miss; 30, Tulane.
February?5, at USF; 7, at UAB; 11, Cincinnati; 13, Louisville; 18, at Houston; 20, at TCU; 26, Charlotte; 3-6, Conference USA Tournament.
