GAMEDAY PREVIEW: East Carolina at Memphis

Game 26: East Carolina at Memphis
Date	Wednesday, Feb. 14, 2017
Time	8:00 p.m. (ET)
Location	Memphis, Tenn. (Elma Roane Fieldhouse)
Coverage	Live Stats \\\ Watch Live \\\ WZMB Radio \\\ East Carolina Game Notes
Social Media	Twitter: @ECUScoreboard \\\ @ECUWomensHoops \\\ #ECUndaunted \\\ #2FTN

GREENVILLE, N.C. – East Carolina (10-15, 1-11 AAC) heads to Bluff City to face the Memphis Tigers (11-12, 4-6 AAC) at 8 p.m. inside Elma Roane Fieldhouse Wednesday.

The Pirates look to snap a nine-game losing streak while the Tigers look to stay in the win column following a 62-57 upset over No. 20 USF February 5th. Memphis leads the all-time series 14-12 and has won three of the last four matchups in overtime.

East Carolina is paced by Kristen Gaffney who averages 15.1 points per game. She also leads the team in rebounds per game (6.6), minutes per game (32.2) and field goal percentage (.502). Bre McDonald is second in scoring for the Purple and Gold with 11.9 points and 6.2 boards per game. The Lithonia, Ga., native leads the team with six double-doubles this season and has been the Pirates leading rebounder in 12 contests.

As a team, ECU averages 62.4 points per game and is shooting 40.3 percent from the field. The Pirates average 4.3 three-pointers per game and are holding opponents to 30 percent from behind the arc.

The Pirates look for their first road conference win of the season after coming up just short in an overtime loss at Tulsa January 31.

Scouting the Tigers
A year removed from a 2016 WNIT berth, the Tigers are 11-12 overall and 4-6 in the American Athletic Conference. Memphis is coming off a 62-57 upset win over No. 20 USF at home February 5. The Tigers sit seventh in the league standings but share a 5-6 league record with UCF. Memphis is averaging 59.5 points per game and is led by Cheyen Creighton who's contributing 14.6 points and a team-best 7.6 rebounds per game. The Tigers are shooting 40.2 percent from the field and is third in the AAC with 9.4 steals per game.

The Series
Memphis leads the all-time series 14-12 and has won the last two meetings in overtime. Under head coach Heather Macy, the Pirates are 2-8 against the tigers with the only two wins coming at home inside Minges Coliseum. In last season's overtime loss, East Carolina fell 93-83 in Memphis on February 27, 2016.

Last Time Out (Feb. 11)
East Carolina shot 26.2 percent from the field in a 76-43 loss to Temple inside Minges Coliseum Saturday night. The Pirates were led by Kristen Gaffney who had 11 points and nine rebounds, one board shy of her fourth double-double of the season. The loss marked the ninth straight for the Pirates, and second to the Owls this season. Nearly 1,900 fans flooded the arena for ECU's annual Play for Kay game where cancer survivors were honored at halftime and throughout the contest.

The Pirates scored the opening basket but a three-pointer by Donnaizha Fountain gave Temple its first, and only, lead of the game at 7:40. Temple slowly broke away from the Pirates and led by 26, 46-20, at halftime. Four Owls scored in double figures while Gaffney was East Carolina's only player in double digits. Fountain had the game's only double-double with 19 points and 12 rebounds. Every member of East Carolina's squad scored in the loss with the Pirates' bench contributing 15 points.

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

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. The Pirates have now made a trey in 226 of the last 227 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 700 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. On Sunday, ECU volunteered with Upward Basketball where the players taught basketball skills drills to attendees.

Up Next
East Carolina heads to the Sunshine State to face UCF at 2 p.m. on Saturday.

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Antoinette Bannister

Dominique Claytor

Alexis Cortez

Kristen Gaffney

Raven Johnson

Bre McDonald

Thais Oliveira

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