News and Notes from East Carolina, Conference USA and Beyond

PREVIOUS NUGGETS

10.22.06: Pirates volleyball on record streak ... Mountaineers handle Huskies, stay unbeaten ... Georgia golfer gets call to play in South Africa

10.21.06: Report: UNC-Chapel Hill's Bunting to resign ... Coaches' challenges yield few reversals ... Southern Miss prepared for Hokies

10.20.06: ECU's Roach nominated for Draddy Award ... Memphis picked first in C-USA basketball ... 4th-ranked UTEP runners coming to Greenville

10.19.06: Koren Robinson suspended by NFL ... Miami broadcaster axed over brawl comments ... Dartmouth, Holy Cross row gets investigation

10.18.06: League teams busy; ECU ends homestand ... C-USA names football players of week ... ECU's Krug captures C-USA weekly honor

10.17.06: ACC, Miami announce additional suspensions ... More suspensions also on Sun Belt's agenda ... Duke lacrosse under "60 Minutes" scrutiny

10.16.06: Coker suspends eight Miami players after brawl ... Pirate volleyball continues roll at UCF ... Szilard leads ECU women's soccer win ... Harris Poll's top 5 varies from BCS Standings

10.15.06: Stokes convenes season's first hoops practice ... Pirate volleyball wins third straight ... ECU women open basketball practice at Rose

10.14.06: EA Sports video game features ECU baseball stadium ... Pirates announce Tickets for Troops drive ... Six C-USA gridders in All-American Classic

10.13.06: Pirate basketball gets national TV dates ... ECU women's hoops getting tube time, too ... East Carolina baseball to host winter camp

10.12.06: ECU hoops scrimmages set for Homecoming ... Camels stun No. 3 UNC-Chapel Hill in soccer ... ECU picked 7th in C-USA women's hoops

10.11.06: Dougherty gets
C-USA special teams honor ... Pirate promotions abound for Tulsa game ... UCF versus Pitt on TV Friday night

10.10.06: Tulsa netter Brugues takes national title ... Miami (OH) reeling after sixth loss ... Pirates host unique diving competition

10.09.06: Buckeyes, Trojans, Gators top Harris Poll ... Denny O'Brien's Harris Poll ballot ... Gators continue success in Swamp ... Pirates stun Memphis in volleyball ... ECU soccer shuts out Herd

10.08.06: Jeff Blake bows out of hall induction ... NCAA's tax status under investigation ... North Dakota challenges NCAA mascot policy

10.07.06: Amato continues mastery of Seminoles ... ECU volleyball triumphs at home over UAB ... Millican continues bid for spot on LPGA Tour

10.06.06: Big Ten announces fines, reprimands ... Central Florida wins late field goal battle ... Millican shoots 74 in qualifying event

10.05.06: Gold captures ECU World Series with 8-7 win ... Tulsa runs past Southern Miss ... Former ECU golfer Millican in LPGA qualifying

10.04.06: TV exposure continues for C-USA teams ... Former UVa stars make $1 million gift ... SMU takes two of three weekly league honors

10.03.06: Curry to receive Stagg award ... Inspired by fallen teammate, Rice whips Army ... ECU women's golf team finishes 11th

10.02.06: Takeaways, sacks mean good things for UVa ... Gators pull even with WVU in Harris BCS poll ... Swofford presented with Homer Rice Award ... Tulsa win streak continues at ECU's expense

10.01.06: Cavs blast Duke 37-0 in Durham ... Vols deal Memphis a resounding defeat ... Pirate women's cross country wins meet

Junior college transfer Darrell Jenkins hit a three-pointer with under 40 seconds remaining to lift the Gold team to a 44-43 victory over the Purple team in East Carolina's annual intrasquad scrimmage on Saturday afternoon, according to an ECU athletic media relations release.

"It was a good start," said Pirate head coach Ricky Stokes. "Guys were enthused, excited and playing really hard. I also thought we shot the ball fairly well.

"Some of the turnovers we had were ones of hustle plays or trying to make things happen that are not there, but as we continue to scrimmage and continue to practice those are things we'll continue to work on."

Playing two 20-minute halves with a running clock, the game was tightly contested throughout as neither side was able took take more than a six-point advantage.

Junior Taylor Gagnon drained a three from the top of the key to break a 38-all tie with less than 3:30 remaining to put the Gold on top.

Senior Courtney Captain and freshman Justin Ramsey scored the next five points to put the Purple ahead with under a minute to play before Jenkins hit his fifth three-pointer of the game.

Jenkins led all scorers with a game-high 19 points, scoring 15 points from three-point range.

"This is a big change from junior college basketball," said Jenkins. "I know Coach Stokes has a lot of confidence in me and my teammates encourage me to shoot the ball, so I have a lot of confidence when I step on the floor."

Sophomore Sam Hinnant led the Purple squad with 13 points, while Captain and junior college transfer Cory Farmer netted 10 points each. Farmer was a perfect 2-for-2 from behind the arc, while Hinnant drained 2-of-3 from long distance.

The East Carolina volleyball team earned its first-ever win over Conference USA rival Houston 3-1 on Sunday afternoon at Minges Coliseum, according to an ECU athletic media relations release.

ECU improved to 16-9 on the season and 7-4 in Conference USA while Houston fell to 15-11 overall and 6-5 in conference play. The win means the Pirates will have back-to-back winning seasons, for the first time since the 1970s. Three Pirates recorded double-digit kills as Jaime Bevan, Kelley Wernert and Mignon Dubenion contributed 14, 16 and 10 respectively.

“This was a great team effort today,” said ECU head coach Chris Rushing. “I would like to give credit not only to our starting players but also the rest of the team for pushing them get better in practice.”

East Carolina will look for its seventh straight Conference USA victory as it continues its four-game homestand when the Pirates attempt a season sweep of Southern Miss on Friday at 7 p.m. in Williams Arena at Minges Coliseum.

Freshman Abby Bools carded a one-under par 71 to claim a share of sixth place at the 2006 Lady Pirate Invitational, according to an ECU athletic media relations release. The tournament was being played at the par-72, 6,232-yard Bradford Creek Golf Course.

Bools, a native of Hickory, finished the 54-hole event with a four-over par 220 (72-77-71) and knocked down a tournament best 13 birdies. Fellow classmate Ana Maria Puche finished tied for 14th after a tournament score of 222 (71-77-74).

Laura Jansone (East Tennessee State) and Sara Hunt (Birmingham-Southern) shared the tournament title after each fired an even-par score of 216. ODU’s Ashley Davis, who posted a 68 on Sunday for the fourth lowest 18-hole score in the events history, claimed third place honors, while Shelly McGraw (Birmingham-Southern) and Kelly MacWhinnie (Maryland) were tied for fourth.

In the team portion of the event, Birmingham-Southern (880) used a one-over par 289 to take home the team title after trailing by four strokes at the end of 36-holes. Maryland (885) finished five strokes back in second, while two-time defending champion Augusta State (887) came in third.

The Pirates (14-19-0) finished in tenth place with a team score of 908 (300-311-297).

ECU’s Jessica Hauser (231) finished tied for 51st, while Kristen Billings and Michelle Williams (238) finished tied for 73rd. Playing as individuals, Shawn Kelley finished 100th and Melanie Granville, who made his collegiate debut this weekend, finished 101.

The Pirates will be back in action next week when they travel to Kiawah Island , SC. to participate in the Edwin Watts/Palmetto Invitational on Oct. 30-31.

News Nuggets are compiled periodically based on material supplied by staff members; data published by ECU, Conference USA and its member schools; and reports from electronic services and other sources. Copyright 2006 Bonesville.net and other publishers. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.