Sanders Shines as Pirates Fall to UNCW on the Road

Wednesday, November 15

Wilmington, N.C.

7:00 p.m.

East Carolina University

1-1

UNCW

2-0

East Carolina

UNCW

Photo by: UNCW Athletics

November 15, 2017 | Women's Basketball

Box Score Box Score (PDF)

Wilmington, N.C. – Mickayla Sanders was explosive for the ECU women's basketball team scoring a game-high 22 points in the Pirates' 66-62 loss to in-state rival UNCW on Wednesday night. Down 11 at halftime, 38-27, the Pirates rallied in the third quarter outscoring the Seahawks 13-12 and cutting the deficit to 10. ECU had its highest offensive frame in the fourth period tallying 22 points while holding UNCW to 16 points and forcing seven Seahawk turnovers.

Sanders' fourth trey of the game tied the game at 55-all late in the fourth quarter but UNCW was able to hold off the late Pirates' run for the win.

ECU leads the all-time series 30-22 while head coach Heather Macy is now 1-2 in regular-season games against UNCW's Karen Barefoot, who previously coached against Macy in Conference USA when she was at Old Dominion.

Team Records
ECU (1-1), UNCW (2-0)

Macy's opening statement
"What a hard fought game and congrats to Wilmington, they played really well."

On moving to a full-court press in the fourth quarter and forcing UNCW to make mistakes
"Well I just think it was out of necessity and the kids effort level was really, really good. The execution just wasn't where it needs to be."

On Mickayla Sanders having 22 points
"She did a great job and she shot the ball really, really well. I felt like the look that she got at the end was a good look and a shot that she makes, felt confident in that. That's the play that we drew up and it was just tough for her and I know that she is really hurting but what a night she had. She played really hard."

On playing a tough big game this early in the season
"They're all big, every game that we play is going to be really, really important."

Quarterly Scoring
Team                          1Q       2Q       3Q       4Q       Total
ECU                           19        8          13        22        62
UNCW                       20        18        12        16        66

News and Notes

ECU moves to 1-1 on the season and is 20-37 in road openers.
The loss marked just the second of the Pirates in the road opener under Macy.
Sanders' 22-point performance marks the second time a Pirate has had 20+ points in a game. Raven Johnson had 21 in ECU's season opener against USC Upstate.
The Pirates extend their streak to 15 consecutive games with at least one three-point basket and have made a trey in 231 of their last 232 games.
Thais led the Pirates for the second time this season in rebounds with seven.
Freshman Ariyana Williams had a season-best nine points going 3-for-8 from behind the arc.

Up Next
ECU returns home to Williams Arena at Minges Coliseum to face Richmond (2-1) on Saturday, Nov. 18, at 7 p.m. The Spiders began their season 2-0 after losing to Wake Forest 85-81 on Wednesday night in Richmond, Va.