Hurricane edges Pirates

Viewing Photo 1 / 2With its biggest challenge of the season looming, the struggling East Carolina women’s basketball team had one slip away during the final minutes on Wednesday night in Minges Coliseum.

ECU took control against Tulsa late in the second quarter and led for all but 1:31 of the second half, but the Golden Hurricane took the lead twice during final 1:40 of the game and made a final defensive stand on Jada Payne and the Pirates to steal a 55-54 victory. A win by ECU (9-13, 3-7), which got 16 points and 13 rebounds from Payne, would have pushed the Pirates ahead of Tulsa (8-15, 5-7) and SMU and into sixth place in the American.

Instead, East Carolina remains in a tie for eighth…