East Carolina will usher in 2021 against a familiar foe Saturday, Jan. 2, as it travels to New Orleans for its second meeting versus Tulane in 11 days.
The Pirates (7-1, 1-1 American) posted a 68-58 win over the Green Wave (5-2, 0-2) inside Williams Arena in Minges Coliseum on Dec. 22 in the final game for both teams before the end of the calendar year.
ECU was scheduled to play at Wichita State on Dec. 30 as was Tulane at UCF, but both games were postponed due to COVID-19 related issues.
"We didn't miss any practice," Pirate head coach Joe Dooley explained.
"We had to tweak it and do some individual stuff. We envisioned before anything came up that we were going to do it where we did it in the preseason with a player, a coach and a manager on a basket until we go the [testing] results back, so if there were any problem, we wouldn't have to shut everybody down."
There has been plenty of speculation linking Jerry Reese with the role in the immediate aftermath of Hurney’s departure. But there are some other teams also leading the charge for the front office figure who enjoyed a phenomenal amount of success during his time with the New York Giants.
We now know who will have pole position in the 2021 NFL Draft. The Jacksonville Jaguars locked up the No. 1 overall selection with a week of the regular season to go, which gives them first refusal on a potential franchise-altering quarterback that many Carolina Panthers fans were hoping for in next year.
Head coach Jose Fernandez got strong, balanced production from across his lineup. While sophomore point guard Elisa Pinzan led the way with 13 points, including a 3-for-5 performance from 3-point range, junior forward Bethy Mununga added 11 points, and sophomore guard Syndi Harvey and freshman guard Elena Tsineke both chipped in with 10. Junior center Shae Leverett snagged a team-high eight rebounds.
However, there is some cause for concern for USF.
Against the Memphis Tigers (Dec. 16) and Cincinnati Bearcats (Dec. 22), USF established big leads that they let slip away. A 13-point second-half margin over the Tigers was cut to one point early in the fourth quarter before the Bulls again pulled away for the 65-58 victory. The Bulls’ early double-digit lead over the Bearcats also evaporated. After USF was up by 16 points in the first quarter, Cincinnati worked its way back into the game, eventually taking a lead late in the third quarter. But USF would finish strong, going on an 18-5 run midway through the fourth quarter to get the 73-61 win.
Brown has been a revelation on the defensive line interior after taking his time to settle at the next level and the Carolina Panthers finally have the sort of dependable presence in this area of the field that’s been missing since Kawann Short began his torrid luck with injuries over the last two years.
A top-five pick in the 2021 NFL draft was set up for the Carolina Panthers. But coach Matt Rhule has been consistent with his message: No using backups just to give younger players a look; no tanking to get the best draft pick. His goal is to teach this franchise about winning football games in December.
GREENVILLE, N.C. Following a standout performance in East Carolina's victory over Tulane, sophomore guard Taniyah Thompson has been selected the American Athletic Conference Player of the Week according to an announcement by the league Monday afternoon. It is the second-straight week in which a Pirate player has won the award, as senior guard Lashonda Monk was recognized Dec. 21.
The player of the week honor marks the first in the Hamden, Conn., native's career. She was tabbed the conference's freshman of the week twice last season before earning unanimous selection to the AAC All-Freshman Team.
Thompson led all scorers in ECU's 72-64 home win over Tulane on Dec. 22, the Pirates' fourth-straight overall triumph, netting a season-high 27 points on 11 of 19 shooting from the field. She also collected six rebounds and dished out two assists. Thompson drained a pair of three-point field goals to give her a team-best 11 for the season.
Publisher's Note: This post appears here courtesy of ECU Sports.
Lashonda Monk's career-high 32-point performance led four East Carolina players in double figures Sunday afternoon as the Pirates knocked off Cincinnati 74-67 at Fifth-Third Arena to remain unbeaten in American Athletic Conference play.
ECU (4-3, 2-0 AAC) won its third-straight contest overall and improved to 3-2 on the road. The Pirates have more road victories this season (three) than all of last year when they went 2-11 away from Williams Arena at Minges Coliseum. East Carolina has also now started AAC play 2-0 for the first time since joining the circuit prior to the 2014-15 campaign. The Bearcats (1-4, 0-1 AAC) came up short their league opener and dropped their fourth consecutive decision. East Carolina avenged its loss to Cincinnati in last year's regular season finale when the homestanding Bearcats rolled past the Pirates, 76-53.
GREENVILLE, N.C. Trailing VCU by six going into the fourth quarter, East Carolina dug in defensively and held the Rams to a pair of points in the final 3:46, securing a 58-55 non-conference victory over the Atlantic 10 Conference preseason favorite Wednesday evening inside Williams Arena at Minges Coliseum.
The Pirates (2-3) wrapped up non-conference play while VCU (2-4) lost its second-straight contest on the road.
"We got better tonight," head coach Kim McNeill said.
"It wasn't pretty for 40 minutes, but I really saw us focus on some of the things we've been working on the last couple of weeks — especially the last few days. Executing our offense. Running all the way through our stuff and creating easy opportunities for each other. We did a really good job of that tonight. We had some people step up and hit some big shots."