East Carolina Begins 2015-16 Campaign at Islanders Classic
November 11, 2015 | Women's Basketball
| Games 1-2: East Carolina vs. UTRGV and Texas A&M-Corpus Christi | |
| Date | Friday, November 13 and Saturday, November 14 |
| Time | 3:30 p.m. and 8:00 p.m. (ET) |
| Location | Corpus Christi, Texas (American Bank Center) |
| Game Notes | East Carolina  |
| Live Stats | Live Stats vs. UTRGV | Live Stats vs. Texas A&M-Corpus Christi |
| Coverage |  Watch (FREE) |  Radio: WZMB 91.3 FM | @ECUScoreboard |
GREENVILLE, N.C. - The East Carolina women's basketball team will tip off its 2015-16 season at the Islanders Classic in Corpus Christi, Texas against the University of Texas-Rio Grande Valley on Friday, Nov. 13 at 3:30 p.m., and Texas A&M-Corpus Christi on Saturday, Nov. 14 at 8 p.m. Both games will be played at the American Bank Center.
East Carolina has won its first two games of the year in each of the last three seasons. Beginning her sixth season at the helm of the program, Head Coach Heather Macy is just six wins from 100 with the Pirates and owns a 13-8 career record against teams from the state of Texas.
The Pirates and Vaqueros will meet for the first time in history on Friday as UTRGV, previously known as Texas-Pan American, competes in the Western Athletic Conference. ECU will take on the Islanders for the first time as well the following evening.
PIRATES TO FACE FIVE TOP 25 TEAMS
East Carolina will have its work cut out in 2015-16 with five opponents ranked in the Associated Press Preseason Top 25 Poll. The docket comprises seven total games, including a pair regular-season tilts with conference foes UConn (No. 1) and USF (No. 20), respectively, as well as No. 2 South Carolina, No. 19 Northwestern and No. 25 Chattanooga.
UNDAUNTED BY THE STRENGTH OF SCHEDULE
Overall, the Pirates will play 15 of their 30 regular-season games against 11 different opponents that received postseason invitations in 2014-15. Seven earned NCAA Tournament bids (Chattanooga, Northwestern, Ohio, South Carolina, UConn, USF and Tulane), including two Final Four participants, while four competed in the WNIT (Creighton, Eastern Washington, Temple, Tulsa).
PAYNE, TAYLOR NAMED PRESEASON ALL-AAC
Seniors Jada Payne and I'Tiana Taylor received preseason All-American Athletic Conference Second Team honors, joining UConn and USF as the only teams with multiple selections. Payne received a first team nod in 2014-15, Taylor was tabbed to the second team and named the league's Newcomer-of-the-Year. Payne became just the third player in program history to earn first team recognition multiple times, joining Sarah Gray (1989-90) and Tonya Hargrove (1990-92).
ECU PICKED FOURTH IN AAC PRESEASON POLL
The Pirates were picked to finish fourth in the American Athletic Conference in 2015-16, according to a poll of the league's head coaches. ECU accumulated 75 points, just one behind Temple for third place.
FEELING 22
In what has been the program's most successful three-year run in history, East Carolina has reached the 20-win plateau in three-straight seasons for the first time in history. In fact, ECU has won exactly 22 games in each campaigns during the streak.
REDSHIRTS NO MORE
Eligible for the Pirates in 2015-16 are four players who redshirted last season after transferring into the program, including sophomore Gabrielle Holston (Georgia Tech) and juniors Khadidja Toure (Oregon State), Marina Laramie (Indiana State) and Derreyal Youngblood (LSU).
