Lady Pirates Win Third Straight, 70-37
December 19, 2002 | Women's Basketball
GREENVILLE, N.C. - The East Carolina women's basketball team improved to 4-4 on the season tonight as it defeated North Carolina A&T by a score of 70-37. It was the third straight win for the Lady Pirates, putting the team at an even .500 before the Christmas break. The game was played at Williams Arena at Minges Coliseum in front of a crowd of 1,121.
"I think we are (making strides)," said ECU head coach Sharon Baldwin. "I was really curious as to how we would handle a team like North Carolina A&T. At the half we were up by a large amount, and we were able to go back out in the second half and address what we needed to address."
Courtney Willis had 14 points and matched her career high of 13 rebounds in the game, while Tali Robich put up 14 points of her own. Freshman LaToya Horton showed off her skills around the boards tonight, pulling down 11 rebounds for a new career high.
"I was really proud of LaToya tonight," said Baldwin. "She did a great job rebounding the ball and was a lot more aggressive in our drives. Stefanie Warner did a lot of good things tonight too. Offensively she didn't get as many rebounds as LaToya did, but I think a game like this is good for everybody because everybody gets to play and get some minutes in because she's been going hard in practice and its nice to see her get some things done (in a game)."
East Carolina started the scoring when Robich notched the first seven points of the evening. Willis scored the next two and Alisha Bishop added one point on a free throw as ECU went up 12-0 before North Carolina A&T was able to put a marker on the board. The Aggies first two points came on a 12-foot jump shot by Tawanda Jackson at the 11:26 mark of the period. The Lady Pirates held the Aggies to just 20 points in the first half, taking a 39-20 lead into the locker room at the half. Willis had 10 rebounds and Robich had 10 points at the half.
Shanita Sutton began the scoring in the second half with two points at the post, and Jennifer Jackson put up two more to give the Pirates a 23 points lead. East Carolina scored 31 in the second half, as many of the newcomers saw action in the latter part of the game. The Aggies only managed 17 points in the second half, and shot only 24.1 percent for the entire game. East Carolina's shooting percentage was 36.4 from the field and 73.1 from the free throw line for the entire game. Willis, Robich, and Stefanie Warner were all perfect from the free throw line.
The Pirates outrebounded the Aggies 59-27, the fourth time this season the team has outrebounded its opponent. Every player in the game had at least one rebound, the second time this season that feat has been accomplished.
This is the first time since the 2000-01 season that the women have been .500 or better in the first eight games of the season.
East Carolina heads to Atlanta on December 30 to participate in the Atlanta NW Marriott Classic hosted by Georgia Tech. The Lady Pirates will face Florida Atlantic on December 30 at 3 p.m. and then will face either the host team or St. John's on December 31 at 1 or 3 p.m.
