March 4, 2007

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TULSA, Okla. -- It's been 25 years since East Carolina made its only appearance in the NCAA Women's Championship.

The Pirates are heading off for another swash-buckling adventure this March after overcoming a double-digit deficit to knock off Rice, 79-70, on Sunday to win the 2007 Conference USA Championship, presented by Aeropostale.

No. 3 seed ECU (19-13) faced a 12-point deficit in the second half. But sophomore guard and all-tournament selection Jasmine Young led the Pirates back. She buried a 3-pointer that tied the game, 61-61, and hit two critical shots during a 12-0 run that gave ECU a 74-64 lead with about two minutes remaining.

When Impris Manning hit two free throws with 12.8 seconds showing, it completed a 21-point turnaround at Donald W. Reynolds Center as ECU clinched C-USA's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.

The Pirates all took turns cutting down the net while wearing championship shirts and hats. East Carolina hasn't been to the NCAAs since 1982 when the Pirates suffered a first-round loss to South Carolina.

Young finished with 23 points on 7-of-17 shooting. Manning had 14 points and 13 rebounds. LaCoya Terry, the tournament MVP, had 12 points and Cherie Mills added 11.

Barring a surprise postseason invitation, No. 4 seed Rice likely saw its season end with a 19-13 record. Lauren Neaves had her 51st career double-double with 16 points and 12 rebounds. Krystal Frazier poured in a game-high 27 points on 6-of-15 shooting from 3-point range.

The Owls appeared to be in cruise control after Frazier hit a layup with 12:18 remaining. They led 53-41 and appeared to be ready to make up for a frustrating loss to Tulsa in last year's C-USA tournament championship game.

Only that lead slowly disappeared as Terry hit consecutive layups and Mills converted a three-point play with 9:34 remaining.

East Carolina raced out to a 17-6 lead on the strength of Young's two layups and an 18-footer. Nicole Days' impressive layup and three-point play pushed the Pirates' lead to 14 with 13:51 remaining in the first half.

Then, the Owls came alive. Frazier buried a 16-footer, Valeriya Berezhynska nailed an off-balance jumper and Frazier hit a 3-pointer after a missed free throw.

Rice pulled within one when Maudess Fulton sank two free throws with 7:06 remaining in the first half. The Owls then inched ahead and eventually took a 30-25 lead on Neaves' layup.

Frazier led all scorers with 15 first-half points, and Young had 12 for the Pirates. Both teams shot 37 percent, although Rice had a strong edge on the glass (25-18).

The NCAA Division I Women's Basketball Championship bracket will be announced Monday, March 12. ECU is C-USA's automatic bid to the Big Dance, but Tulane (25-6) , UAB (18-12) and UTEP (22-8) will have to wait for selection Monday. Tulane is a postseason team as the Green Wave are the automatic selection to the WNIT from conference.

2007 C-USA All-Tournament Team
Tye Jackson, Houston
Carmen Guzman, UAB
Jasmine Young, East Carolina
Valeriya Berezhynska, Rice
LaCoya Terry, East Carolina - MVP

EAST CAROLINA HEAD COACH Sharon Baldwin-Tener
On the game:
"I just think it was a great game. Rice has a great basketball team. We jumped ahead early, then they came back, and then they jumped up on us and came back. I think it was a really good game. I could not be more proud of our team. I am really proud of this team for stepping up and making things happen." "It's been a long five years. It's been a tough climb. To be honest, there were times that I wondered if we could get it done, but after signing this sophomore class, I knew we had a future and could compete with the better programs. It's been a really tough time, but it's been worth it. We have been fighting to get off the bottom."

ECU Sophomore Guard Jasmine Young
Your mindset when you were down 12 points...
"Well, there was plenty of time left on the clock and we knew we needed to make big defensive stops and execute our offense. I think we did a pretty good job."
What did you guys rely on to pull your self back together and finish the game?
"I felt we knew in our heart, we worked to get where we were and we just wanted to finish with a win. We just had to pull each other up and a lot of times we try and protect our lead, instead of doing what we did to get our lead. We try to hold on to it and end up letting the other team back into the game. I think once they got back into the game and took the lead, we all got in our mindsets that we had to get this under control and take it one possession at a time."

ECU Sophomore Guard LaCoya Terry
What does it mean to be first East Carolina team to go to the tournament in 25 years?
"It feels good. It has not really hit me yet. I am still waiting for it to hit me, but I still know we have class coming up and I am not going to be able to celebrate too long."
On the comeback...
"I think it was about that point when I hit the two lay ups. I felt we were making a run. I knew once we got our fast break going no one could really stop us."