photo by Don Mooney
by Don Mooney
FORT WORTH, Texas – – – For the first time since 2007, the East Carolina women’s basketball team is going dancing. With a 46-44 victory over the Houston Cougars, the Pirates completed their run to the 2023 American Athletic Conference Championship. Synia Johnson was named the tournament’s Most Outstanding Player.
The story of the game was like the story of the season – one based in resilience in the face of daunting odds. After being picked 11th in the AAC preseason poll, the Pirates won 20 games in the regular season to claim the three seed. The became the comeback kids with thrilling victory after thrilling victory and they did it again on Thursday.
The first quarter for the Pirates was, simply put, abysmal. ECU managed only two points in the first quarter, opening the game shooting 1-19 from the field. The team finished the half just 4-33 shooting. But after all of that – after two points in a quarter and 15 points in a half, the Pirates only trailed by seven.
As the adage goes, defense wins championships, and in a game featuring the best two defenses in the league, this one may have been destined to reinforce that belief. ECU held Houston to 23 points in the first half to keep the game within reach after trailing by as many as 11.
The game may not have been withing reach save for the play of Alexsia Rose. The point guard entered the game in relief and made the kind of extraordinary plays it takes to win a championship. Trailing 14-3, Rose made a layup, stole the ball and converted and and-one in short order to bring the Pirates to life. Though the margin continued to favor the Cougars, the Pirates had life and, perhaps, belief.
After so many comebacks on the season, so many back-against-the-wall moments, the Pirates found one more. In the third quarter the team woke up. a 12-2 run gave ECU a lead at 28-27 for the first time in the game. Rose knocked down a triple and a mid-range jumper and Johnson played her signature defensive-slashing style for the team to erupt into the lead.
After some back-and-forth play, the two teams entered the final quarter level at 30 with massive stakes. For a moment it seemed it wouldn’t happen. Houston took the lead with just 2:31 to play and the lid seemed to slide back on the basket for the Pirates for a moment. But as she has so many times, Amiya Joyner made a dumbfoundingly spectacular play, converting an and-one and putting East Carolina back in front for good. The Pirates made it an adventure with some missed free throws but eventually the Cougar’s final heave fell short and the East Carolina Pirates had punched their ticket to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since LaCoya Terry and co. torched Conference USA 16 years ago.
Johnson was named Most Outstanding Player in the tournament and Joyner was named to the All-Tournament squad. The Pirates made changes abound to the record book, but those can be spoken of later, all that matters right now is that Kim McNeil and her comeback kids will enter Selection Sunday knowing they’ll see that Purple and Gold pop up on the screen.