“We started off aggressive and got the run off an early mistake by ECU,” head coach Renee Luers-Gillispie said. “But they are a really good hitting team, and we knew that heading into this matchup. They got some timely hits against us that we couldn’t overcome. But, I was proud of the team and how they kept fighting and trying to make something happen. We just couldn’t get those timely hits that we needed against them. East Carolina played hard and they got the hits they needed, they had early mistakes but they played a great game today.”
UCF had five Knights named to the all-tournament team at the conclusion of the event, with Ashleigh Cole (Pace, Fla.), Hillary Barrow (Miami, Fla.), Abby McClain (Waterloo, Iowa), Natalie Land (Mayo, Fla.) and Vanessa Perez (San Diego, Calif.) all earning spots on the squad.
The contest, which was aired nationally on CBS College Sports network, was delayed 4.5 hours due to heavy rain in the Houston area. But, after less than two hours, the Black and Gold walked away from the 2010 league tournament as the runner-up. UCF will now await word from the NCAA Selection Committee on whether its season will continue with an at-large bid into the NCAA Tournament, with the selection show slated for 10 p.m. Sunday on ESPN U.
“It has been a battle every conference game this year,” Luers-Gillispie said. “We are the fifth best conference in the country as far as scheduling and I think this conference has put itself in a position to put four teams in the tourney this year and I hope that the committee sees that. All we can do now is just sit back and wait for the committee to decide our fate.”