Postseason Central

Jada Payne led three East Carolina in double-figures and finished with a game-high 22 points, as the Pirates defeated Radford, 74-52, in the first round of the WNIT Wednesday evening at Williams Arena in Minges Coliseum.
 
East Carolina (22-10) awaits the winner of NC State and East Tennessee State matchup Thursday night to determine its second round opponent.
 
Payne shot 8-for-15 overall, including 3-for-5 from 3-point range in her 11th 20-point performance of the season, redshirt senior Abria Trice added 12 points, a team-high seven rebounds and three steals, and junior I’Tiana Taylor scored 11 points.

The win was the program’s first in postseason play since the 2009-10 campaign and first under head coach Heather Macy.

The Pirates created its largest lead of the opening half – 18 points – after Trice knocked down a pair of free-throws with 6:26 to play to make it 31-13. East Carolina kept the advantage in double digits and took a 38-26 lead into the intermission.

The Highlanders scored the first basket of the second half to cut the deficit to 10, but would draw no closer for the rest of the game. East Carolina led by more than 20 for the first time after Taylor connected on a jumper to push the advantage to 53-32 with 13:18 remaining in regulation.

The Pirates finished the night 26-for-60 (.433) from the floor, 5-for-10 (.500) from 3-point range and 17-for-23 at the charity stripe. Radford shot 19-for-50 (.380) overall, 2-for-12 (.167) from deep and 12-for-15 (.800) from the free-throw line.
 
East Carolina outscored Radford 36-28 in the paint, 30-8 off turnovers and 20-8 in second chance points, while forcing the opposition into 23 turnovers and owning an 11-4 advantage in steals and 16-13 edge on the offensive glass.