Pirates Host Wolfpack in 2015 WNIT Second Round Sunday
March 21, 2015 | Women's Basketball
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GREENVILLE, N.C. - Despite the college campuses residing less than 90 miles apart, East Carolina and NC State will collide on the hardwood in a women's basketball game for the first time since 2007 when the two meet in the second round of the 2015 Women's National Invitation Tournament on Sunday, March 22 at 4 p.m., at Williams Arena in Minges Coliseum.
East Carolina (22-10, 11-7 AAC) took down Radford, 74-52, at home in the first round of the WNIT on Wednesday night, while NC State (17-14, 7-9 ACC) is coming off a 73-58 road victory on Thursday evening at East Tennessee State.
The last time the teams faced off was December 9, 2007 in Greenville, where the Pirates upset the then-24th-ranked Wolfpack, 89-82, in front of a crowd of 2,679. ECU and North Carolina State both competed at the Junkanoo Jam on Grand Bahama Island in November, but were placed in opposite divisions for the tournament. During the season, they shared a pair of common opponents in Tulane and Syracuse, as NC State suffered a pair of road losses in those games, while East Carolina split a pair of league games with the Green Wave, but lost to the Orange at a neutral site.
ECU owns an 11-3 record at home this season, while redshirt junior and leading scorer Jada Payne is averaging 19.7 points on 43-percent shooting from the floor, including a 47-percent clip beyond the three-point arc over the last three games. Junior forward I'Tiana Taylor is scoring 13 points and making 44-percent of her shots, while redshirt senior Abria Trice is putting up a cool 12 points per game during that span.
The Wolfpack has three guards averaging double-digit points this season, led by Miah Spencer's 13.9, Dominique Wilson's 13.8 and Len'Nique Brown's 10.5. NC State shoots and impressive 75.7-percent at the free throw line, but allows opponents to hit 41-percent of their shots despite making just over 38-percent of its own.
MACY, MOORE HEAD-COACHING ROOTS INTERSECT
Head coaches Heather Macy and Wes Moore will face off against one another for the first time Sunday, but both spent three years, respectively, at the helm of NCAA Division II program Francis Marion. Moore coached the Patriots from 1995-98, before Macy took over from 2007-10. Current North Carolina head coach Sylvia Hatchell also coached at Francis Marion for 11 seasons from 1975-86.
WOLFPACK STAFF HAS EAST CAROLINA TIES
NC State assistant coach and recruiting coordinator Gene Hill was an assistant coach at ECU in 2001-02 and was named the interim head coach on Jan. 25, 2002 after taking over for Dee Stokes for the final 11 games of the season. The Wolfpack's director of high school relations, Rachel Stockdale, was also an assistant coach under Heather Macy at East Carolina for the 2012-13 campaign.
THE LONG HAUL
Sunday's game will be East Carolina's 33rd of the 2014-15 campaign, the most in any of Heather Macy's first five years. The total will also match the 2006-07 team for the second most in a single season in program history. The 2009-10 squad, which also reached the second round of the WNIT, had the longest season in school history when it played 34 games and a posted 23-11 overall mark. The 23 wins stand as the second most in a year, behind the record of 24 set in 1985-86.
WNIT STREAK CONTINUES
The Pirates are in the midst of their unprecedented third straight WNIT appearance in 2015. ECU has never played in a postseason tournament beyond its conference championship in consecutive years prior to its current run. It is also ECU's fourth appearance in the tournament in the last six years.
TWO EARN ALL-AMERICAN ATHLETIC CONFERENCE HONORS
With the announcement of the 2015 All-American Athletic Conference teams, junior Jada Payne received first team honors while junior I'Tiana Taylor was tabbed to the second team. Taylor was also named the league's Newcomer-of-the-Year, as 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).
FEELING 22
In what has arguably been the program's most successful three-year run in history, East Carolina recorded its 20th victory of the season in a 67-57 defeat of UCF, which marked the first time in program history the Pirates have reached the 20-win plateau in three-straight seasons. ECU now has 22 wins in three-straight seasons after going 22-10 in 2012-13 and 22-9 in 2013-14.
PRESSURING THE ROCK & PICKING POCKETS
ECU has forced opponents into an average of 21.6 turnovers per game and has generated 20 or more in 19 of 32 contests overall. As of Thursday, March 19, the Pirates rank sixth among NCAA Division I teams with an average of 11.4 steals per game. They totaled a season-best 24 heists against SMU on Feb. 18, while opponents have committed 20 or more turnovers in seven of the last 10 games.
FEELING HOME AWAY FROM HOME
The Pirates played just 13 of its 29 regular season games at home, but own an 11-6 overall record in games played away from Minges Coliseum. Eight of their first 13 American Athletic Conference contests were played on the road where they posted a 5-3 mark. ECU possesses an 11-3 mark within its friendly confines this year and a 39-5 ledger dating back to the start of the 2012-13 campaign.
