Wednesday, January 18
Greenville, N.C.
7 PM
East Carolina University
vs
UCF
Gameday: Women’s Basketball Hosts UCF Wednesday Night
January 17, 2017 | Women's Basketball
| Game 19: East Carolina vs. UCF | |
| Date | Wednesday, Jan. 18 |
| Time | 7:00 p.m. (ET) |
| Location | Greenville, N.C. (Minges Coliseum) |
| Coverage | Live Stats \\\ Watch Live \\\ WZMB Radio \\\ East Carolina Game Notes |
| Social Media | Twitter: @ECUScoreboard \\\ @ECUWomensHoops \\\ #ECUndaunted \\\ #2FTN |
GREENVILLE, N.C. – East Carolina (10-8, 1-4 AAC) is set to host UCF (11-6, 1-3 AAC) Wednesday night in Minges Coliseum. The game will be broadcast live on the American Digital Network with Brock Bowling and Mack McCarthy on the call. Tip-off is slated for 7:05 p.m.
East Carolina is off to a 1-4 start in conference play after opening the league season with one of the toughest schedules. The Pirates have already faced the top-four teams in the league in the preseason poll and still will meet No. 1/1 UConn for a second time later this month.
The Pirates return home for the first time since defeating SMU 58-57 for the first AAC win of the season January 11. Since then, ECU has lost two straight to Temple (RV) and No. 20/21 USF, two teams who are undefeated at home this season.
Kristen Gaffney continues to lead the Pirates in scoring and rebounds the season with 15.2 points and 6.2 boards per game. Bre McDonald is second on the team with 11.1 points per game while freshman Raven Johnson is averaging 9.5 points per game over the last two games.
Scouting the Knights
UCF enters Wednesday night's game 11-6 overall and 1-3 in the American Athletic Conference. The Knights are 5-2 on the road this season and recently snapped a four-game losing streak with a 62-48 win over Houston in their last game.
The Knights are led by Zykira Lewis who is averaging 16.2 points and 2.6 rebounds per game. Aliyah Gregory is contributing 12.4 points and 3.9 boards per game as the second Knight scoring in double figures this season. Joslyn Massey leads UCF with 7.2 rebounds per game helping the Knights to average 40.7 boards per game.
Collectively, the Knights are shooting 41.6 percent from the field this season and are holding opponents to just 38.9 percent and 30.5 percent from three-point range.
The Series
East Carolina leads the all-time series 12-5 since first playing UCF Jan. 22, 2006. The Pirates are 9-0 all-time at home against the Knights and have won each of the last five meetings. Last time out, ECU defeated UCF 71-56 in Orlando on Jan. 7, 2016.
Last Time Out (Jan. 14)
Last Saturday East Carolina traveled to No. 20/21 USF where the Pirates lost to the nationally ranked Bulls, 79-48. The loss marked the third-consecutive time the Pirates entered a road game to face an undefeated team at home in conference play, previously losing to Temple (6-0) and UConn (7-0) in their respective arenas.
The Pirates were led by Kristen Gaffney who scored a team-best 13 points with five rebounds. Raven Johnson was second on the squad in scoring with nine points and six rebounds in 22 minutes of action while Thais Oliveira had a dominating fourth quarter where she grabbed five rebounds to total a team-best eight on the night, five of which were offensive
Macy Ascending On ECU All-Time Coaching Wins List
Heather Macy now owns the second-most wins by a head coach in program history. With 11 more victories, she will surpass Sharon Baldwin-Tener (2002-10), who tops the list with 127.
Holston Nominated For NABC Good Works Team
Holston was named a nominee for the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) Good Works Team. The Allstate NABC and WBCA Good Works Teams® recognizes players at all levels of college basketball whose charitable involvement and altruistic acts stand out amongst all other student-athletes participating in the sport.
Bannister Comes Up Clutch
East Carolina played in some tight games early on this season, building a 4-0 record when the margin of victory is five points or less. Redshirt senior guard Antoinette Bannister was a big reason for this success as she drained some big shots for the Purple and Gold. She canned a triple with eight seconds left against Detroit to send the game into overtime before hitting three free throws with 10 seconds on the clock versus Marist to give ECU the win by two points. Bannister also nailed a huge three with two seconds remaining against Ball State to force overtime as East Carolina out-scored the Cardinals 19-6 in the extra period. Most recently, Bannister banked a trey with 15 seconds left in regulation against SMU marking the fourth time this season she has netted the game-winning point for ECU.
Educate Me
This year's Education Day brought a crowd of 4,958 to Minges Coliseum. That number stands as the second highest in facility history for a women's basketball game.
1. Nov. 20, 2015 - 5,408 vs. Presbyterian
2. Nov. 15, 2016 - 4,958 vs. UNC Wilmington
3. Dec. 31, 2014 - 4,706 vs. Connecticut
Balancing Act
ECU has been a balanced team this season, utilizing all 11 players on its roster in 10 of the last 13 games. Furthermore, nine Pirates are averaging double-digit minutes played. In the contest at Charlotte, all 11 ECU players scored at least one point.
Three Me
The loss at Temple snapped a 218-game streak of that East Carolina made at least one three-point basket. Prior to Temple, the last time the Pirates did not make at least one was Feb. 6, 2010 at UCF. ECU got back on track against USF Saturday hitting a trey to make at least one shot from downtown in 218 of its last 219 games.
Pirates Picked Sixth In AAC Preseason Poll
ECU was picked to finish sixth in the American Athletic Conference for the 2016-17 season according to a preseason poll of the league's head coaches. Connecticut was chosen as the unanimous preseason favorite with 100 points, ahead of Temple in second place (87) and USF in third (86). Tulane accumulated 73 points for fourth place, while SMU rounded out the top five with 50. East Carolina received 49 points in the poll and was ranked ahead of Memphis (47), UCF (41), Tulsa (33), Cincinnati (23) and Houston (16).
Top-50 Signing Class Arrives
Freshmen Dominique Claytor, Alexis Cortez, Raven Johnson and junior Thais Oliveira, signed National Letters of Intent to play for the Pirates in November 2015, comprising the No. 49 overall class nationally, according to the Dan Olsen Collegiate Girls Basketball Report. The quartet marked ECU's first top-50 signing class in program history.
Pirates in the Community
ECU Women's Basketball players have logged more than 600 hours of community service so far this year and have accumulated over 500 hours each of the last several seasons. They have put in time at the Cypress Glen Retirement Community, The Boys and Girls Club of Pitt County and Elmhurst Elementary School among many others. ECU spent time helping to pack 7,000 meals at Peace Presbyterian Church on Monday in conjunction with the nation-wide MLK Day of Service.
Up Next
East Carolina hits the road to face Cincinnati Jan. 21 at 2 p.m. The game will be streamed live on the American Digital Network.
Players Mentioned
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