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Audio: Brian Bailey
Show |
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 The
Brian Bailey Show
airs on Pirate Radio
1250 on Mondays at
6:30 p.m. Brian's
guest this week was
former ECU
basketball coach
Mike Steele (right):
Replay
show... |
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FOOTBALL |
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Macy & Company aim high in WNIT |
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 For
the third consecutive postseason,
East Carolina will play in the
women’s version of the National
Invitational Tournament. The WNIT
features a 64-team field, and Pirate
coach Heather Macy thinks she has a
team that can win it all. ...
More from
Brian Bailey... |
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Audio: The Brian Bailey
Show |
 The
Brian Bailey Show
airs on Pirate Radio
1250 on Mondays at
6:30 p.m. Brian's
guest this week was
former ECU
basketball coach
Mike Steele
(right):
Replay
show... |
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BASEBALL |
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ECU continues winning streak |
|
 GREENVILLE
— East Carolina took its
fifth straight win by
beating Princeton 11-2 at
Clark-LeClair Stadium on
Tuesday evening. The Pirates
(14-6) have scored 60 runs
during the streak.
Winning
pitcher Jimmy Boyd's support
included two hits each from Reid
Love, Luke Lowery, Eric Tyler and
Kirk Morgan. Travis Watkins had one
hit and three RBIs. ...
Story & pictures... |
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Pictured: ECU senior
co-captain Hunter
Allen turns a 6-3
double play against
Princeton Tuesday
night. (Photo by W.A.
Myatt) |
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Next: ECU vs.
Princeton |
Wednesday, 5 pm |
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BASEBALL |
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ECU blasts Phoenix |
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ELON — East Carolina completed a sweep of
its three-game series at Elon by pounding
out 22 hits in a 20-4 win on Sunday. The
Pirates (13-6) led 8-0 before erupting for
seven runs in the sixth inning. ECU added
five more runs in the seventh before the
Phoenix (8-9) closed the scoring with two
runs in the seventh and two more in the
eighth. ...
More... |
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Next: ECU vs.
Princeton | Tuesday, 6:30 pm |
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BASEBALL |
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Pirates rally to clinch series |
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ELON — East Carolina was down to its last
out and trailed 8-7 at Elon on Saturday
afternoon before rallying for four runs in
the top of the ninth and an 11-8 win. With
two down and nobody on in the ninth, Pirates
pinch hitter Luke Bolka reached base on an
error and the comeback unfolded from there.
...
More... |
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Next: East
Carolina at Elon | Sunday, 1:30 pm |
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BASKETBALL: AAC TOURNAMENT |
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No. 20 SMU survives Pirates |
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HARTFORD, CT — Top-seeded
Southern Methodist withstood
a challenge from
eighth-seeded East Carolina
for a 74-68 quarterfinal win
in the American Athletic
Conference tournament Friday
afternoon at the XL Center.
The Pirates (14-18) attacked
from beyond the arc ...
More... |
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ECU's Season
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Tournament Bracket
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BASEBALL |
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Pirates take opener at Elon |
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GREENVILLE — East
Carolina used home runs from
Luke Lowery, Bryce Harman
and Charlie Yorgen in a 10-3
win at Elon on Friday
afternoon. Evan Kruczynski
(4-1) pitched seven innings
as the Pirates improved to
11-6. He allowed three runs,
two earned, on nine hits
with a pair of strikeouts.
...
More... |
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Next: ECU at Elon |
Saturday, 4:30 pm |
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BASKETBALL: AAC TOURNAMENT |
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Pirates edge UCF in OT |
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HARTFORD, CT — East Carolina survived and
advanced in the first game of the 2015
American Athletic Conference tournament with
an 81-80 overtime win over Central Florida
at the XL Center on Thursday afternoon. The
Pirates (14-18) used a balanced scoring
attack that included 19 points from freshman
B.J. Tyson and a career high 18 from
Marshall Guilmette, 13 each from Michel
Nzege and Caleb White and 11 from Paris
Roberts-Campbell. ...
More... |
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By
Brian Bailey
©2015 Bonesville.net
All rights reserved.
VIEW MOBILE VERSION OF THIS PAGE
For the third consecutive postseason, East Carolina will play in the
women’s version of the National Invitational Tournament.
The WNIT features a 64-team field, and Pirate coach Heather Macy thinks
she has a team that can win it all.
“We are thrilled to be invited to the WNIT,” said Macy at a press
conference held just outside the women’s practice facility on campus.
“Our program is a two-feet-in program. That’s a total commitment in our
program. Now we have progressed that into a two-feet-forward vision
statement. Making postseason play for three consecutive years is great,
but we aren’t just looking to participate in this tournament. This is a
situation we are going into with a narrow focus to win the WNIT.”
Those are bold words for sure. Macy has never bowed down to any
challenge. She is building a program her way, and she hopes to look back
at this experience as another block in that final project down the road.
“We haven’t been shy at all to talk about what our program’s goal is,
and that’s to make the NCAA tournament,” she explained. “These are
definitely progressive steps. Some of our kids will be playing in their
third NIT tournament, and they have a much better understanding how the
tournament is run, the format and all of that.”
Story continues
after the following picture...
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ECU women's
basketball coach Heather Macy gets animated during a
game with Southern Methodist when the teams were still
in Conference USA. (Bonesville archive photo by W.A.
Myatt) |
The Pirate players were also unabashedly enthusiastic, but perhaps more
so with the opportunity to host in the WNIT.
“I was so excited,” said All-American Athletic Conference first team
selection Jada Payne. “I was jumping up and down screaming. My teammate
Akia (Trice) was with me and we were both so excited, especially since
we get to play at home.”
The Pirates' WNIT opponent in this first round is Radford. The
Highlanders were 17-13 on the year and 14-6 as the runner-ups in the Big
South.
“They are a basketball team that we are going to have to stop in
transition,” said Macy. “They do a great job with their guards and they
get out and get going. They can really shoot it. The key is going to be
for us to control and play our tempo in the game.”
The teams will tip off in Williams Arena at Minges Coliseum on Wednesday
night at 7 p.m.
Macy’s squad has dropped its first game in the WNIT the past two
seasons. Both of those games were on the road. This time the Pirates are
at home. Macy thinks the home game, and the experience in the AAC, will
pay dividends in the WNIT.
“The American Athletic Conference is an incredible league,” said Macy.
“You are talking about six teams in postseason play right now. So this
is a league that gets you prepared for March, and that’s when you want
to be playing.”
Macy concluded with a message to the Pirate Nation on how important it
is to get a good crowd out to support her team.
“It’s real important,” Macy said emphatically. “I think that women’s
basketball and us becoming a significant contender on a national level,
part of that is your fan support. Part of that is Pirate Nation, what we
brag on, coming out and giving us a home court advantage. It’s one thing
for us to come out and shoot on our own rims and sleep in our own beds,
but it’s a whole other ball game when it’s tied and the other team can’t
communicate to their bench. Or we are on a run and it’s so loud that the
other team has to call a timeout.
"We need for everyone to
come out, be loud, be aggressive and enjoy that you get to see your
women’s basketball team at home at least one more time.”
If Macy has her way and this ECU team can continue to win, Pirate Nation
could get several opportunities to show that support.
BB
