Rice University
East Carolina
Owls Lose Heartbreaker to Pirates in C-USA Final
3/4/2007 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
March 4, 2007
Tulsa, Okla. -
In a see-saw game that had both teams build sizable leads only to lose them, East Carolina ended on the upside as the Lady Pirates earned their first trip to the NCAA tournament in 25 years with a 79-70 win over Rice in the championship of the Conference USA tourney Sunday at the Reynolds Center.
Krystal Frazier had a career-high 27 points to lead the Owls (19-13), who fought back from a 14-point deficit in the first half to take a 36-34 lead into the half. Rice played well to open the second half, too, but the Pirates (19-13) used a strong inside game and tough offensive play from Jasmine Young to fight back from 12 points down with 12 minutes left in the game.
"ECU was the hottest team in the league coming into the tournament," said Rice head coach Greg Williams. "They have won 10 in a row and are very deserving champions. Our defensive effort was nowhere near what it was in our first two games, and we did the exact opposite of what we wanted to do."
Rice had a nightmare second half from the field, shooting only 25 percent after a 38 percent first-half effort. Frazier, who set a school record with 15 three-point attempts, was only 4-14 in the final period as she was forced to hurry her shots by a harassing Pirate defense. Lauren Neaves, who had her 51st career double-double with 16 points and a game-high 15 rebounds, was also unable to overcome the ECU inside tandem of Cherie Mills and Lauren Cochran, who used their bulk to stop up the lane.
Young led ECU with 23 points, while Impris Manning had 14 points and a team-high 13 boards. The Pirates shot 41.2 percent from the field and blocked eight shots.
LaCoya Terry earned tournament MVP honors for the Pirates, who also placed Young on the all-tournament team. Rice's Valeriya Berezhynska was named to the all-tourney squad, which was rounded out by Houston's Tye Jackson and Carmen Guzman of UAB.
