Lots of teams like to schedule easy opponents early in the season to serve as a warm-up for the meat of the schedule.

East Carolina's women's basketball team apparently doesn't follow that philosophy.

The Pirates, without the benefit of any exhibition games, will begin the 2004-05 season against the Duquesne Dukes of the Atlantic 10 Conference tonight at 7 in Williams Arena at Minges Coliseum. It's the first of two early matchups with A-10 squads for ECU as the Pirates travel to George Washington Sunday.

"I think we're ready to play against somebody else," ECU third-year coach Sharon Baldwin-Tener said. "We've only had one closed scrimmage and we've beaten each other up. The competition (among the Pirates) is getting a little tight here, but that's a good thing. I think they're ready for Friday night and ready to play somebody else."

East Carolina is coming off a 14-14 season in which the team experienced long winning and losing streaks. After jumping out to a 14-4 mark in their first 18 games, the Pirates dropped their final 10 contests — four of those in overtime — to finish the year at .500.

One of the leaders of that ECU squad — Courtney Willis — graduated and took her talent to the professional ranks in Greece.

Willis became the first Lady Pirate in school history to earn first-team All-Conference USA honors after averaging 18.6 points and 10 rebounds per game last season.

While the loss of Willis leaves some big shoes to fill, ECU and third-year coach Sharon Baldwin-Tener welcome the return of guard/forward Jennifer Jackson. Jackson was the only other Pirate player besides Willis to average double-figure points, posting a 14.5 points per game average as a junior. The 5-foot-9 senior also pulled down 6.8 rebounds a game last season and blocked 14 shots, totals that were both second on the team.

Another returning senior — 5-8 guard Viola Cooper — started every game last year while averaging 8.3 ppg and dishing out a team-high 85 assists.

Three junior starters are back for Duquesne, which finished 16-13 overall and 10-6 in the A-10. Guard Aiga Bautre, forward Nicole Sinclair and center Maria Stankevich anchor DU's attack. Bautre started 28 games as a sophomore and is the leading scorer among the returning Dukes after posting 9.1 ppg last season.

Sinclair, a 6-foot forward, scored 7.7 ppg and grabbed a team-high 7.3 boards per contest last year while Stankevich, a 6-3 center from St. Petersburg, Russia, was the team leader in blocked shots (40) and averaged 7.2 points and 5.8 rebounds a game during her sophomore campaign.

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