Lady Pirates headed to postseason

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#Jump to WNIT First Round Schedule#

The season got extended Monday night for the East Carolina women's basketball team. The Lady Pirates accepted an at-large bid to join the 64-team field in the 2013 Women's National Invitation Tournament.

ECU will hit the road to take on Western Kentucky in a first-round game on Thursday, March 21. The contest will be played in Bowling Green, KY, on the Lady Hilltoppers' E.A. Diddle Arena home court. The game time is expected to be announced Tuesday.

“I am so thrilled to coach this team another day,” ECU coach Heather Macy said in a press release announcing the invitation. “These girls have worked so hard, they deserve success.”

The Lady Pirates finished second in Conference USA with an 11-5 record and carry a 22-9 overall mark into the tournament.

WKU, which recorded a 13-7 record in the Sun Belt Conference, also received an at-large bid. The Lady Hilltoppers, coached by Michelle Clark-Heard, boast a 21-10 overall mark.

The WNIT field includes 31 teams that receive automatic berths — one guaranteed bid for each of the nation's established conferences — and 33 at-large selections.

C-USA teams Memphis, Southern Methodist, Tulane and UAB will join ECU in the bracket as will future league teams Florida International and Old Dominion.

Other programs representing the state of North Carolina in the WNIT are Appalachian State, Charlotte, Davidson, N.C. A&T and N.C. State.

The 32 first-round games will take place between March 20-22, second round contests will be held March 23-25 and third round matchups are scheduled from March 27-29.

The quarterfinals are set for March 30-April 1 and the semifinals are slated for April 3-4.

The WNIT championship game, which will be played on Saturday, April 6, at 3 p.m., will be national-televised by the CBS Sports Network.

The Lady Pirates advanced to the second round in their last WNIT appearance in 2010, defeating Drexel in game one before falling to Maryland in the second round.

WNIT First Round Schedule (Game times TBA)

Source: WNIT

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 20:

 — Utah at Long Beach State
 — UCSB at San Diego State 
 — Idaho State at BYU
 — Eastern Illinois at Missouri
 — UAB at Auburn

THURSDAY, MARCH 21:

 — Hawaii at San Diego
 — Seattle at Saint Mary's CA 
 — Northern Colorado at Wyoming
 — Texas Southern at Kansas State
 — IUPUI at Illinois State
 — Butler at Toledo
 — Indiana State at Youngstown State
 — Miami OH at Illinois
 — East Carolina at Western Kentucky
 — Memphis at Arkansas
 — Sam Houston State at Tulane
 — Iona at Drexel
 — Harvard at Hartford
 — SMU at Bowling Green State
 — Akron at Duquesne
 — Sacred Heart at Boston University
 — Army at Fordham
 — NCA&T at James Madison
 — Richmond at North Carolina State
 — Davidson at Old Dominion
 — Appalachian State at Charlotte
 — Florida at Florida International
 — Winthrop at Florida Gulf Coast

FRIDAY, MARCH 22:

 — Eastern Washington at Washington
 — UALR at Pacific
 — Ball State at Minnesota
 — Northern Iowa at Marquette

 PAGE UPDATED 03/19/13 06:44 AM.

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