Lady Pirates Overwhelm South Florida
February 23, 2003 | Women's Basketball
TAMPA, Fla. ? Tali Robich and Jennifer Jackson each recorded a double-double to lead East Carolina past South Florida, 71-60, in the Sun Dome Sunday afternoon. Robich scored a team-high 19 points and grabbed 11 rebounds, while Jackson added 15 points and 10 boards.
Despite holding an early 14-point lead, the Lady Pirates trailed by five early in the second half. However, ECU battled back, and despite 10 points in the final 1:21 by the Bulls, the Lady Pirates aced 10 free throws over the same time period to claim the victory.
East Carolina (12-13, 4-8 C-USA) jumped out to an early large lead, holding the Bulls scoreless for the first eight and a half minutes of the game while amassing 14 points. USF's (7-18, 2-10 C-USA) offense finally woke up, though, and proceeded to outscore the Pirates, 27 to 19, over the remainder of the half to pull to within six, 33-27, at halftime
Two three-pointers by sophomore Alana Tanksley and a lay-up off a steal by senior Aiya Shepard out of halftime gave the Bulls their first tie of the game, 35-35, at the 16:48 mark of the second half.
ECU quickly responded with a short 3-0 run, but another Tanksley trey at the 15:30 mark again tied the game up, 40-40. A free throw by the Pirates less than a minute later gave them a slim one-point advantage, but back-to-back threes by Tanksley and sophomore Jen Kline gave USF a five-point lead, 46-41, with 13:30 remaining in the half.
An 8-0 run by the Pirates allowed them to reclaim the lead, but a lay-up by junior Melissa Tape at the 7:35 mark pulled USF back to within one. That would be the last field goal for the Bulls, though, for over six minutes, allowing the Pirates to out-score them, 20 to 10, down the stretch.
Junior Sarah Lochmann led the way for the Bulls with 18 points, followed closely by Tanksley with 14, including four treys in the second half.
USF committed only 12 turnovers, while forcing ECU into 20 off 15 steals, but the Pirates won both the offensive and rebounding battles with 42.3 percent shooting from the floor and 45 boards, compared to 34.8 percent for the Bulls and 33 rebounds.
ECU returns to action on Friday, Feb. 28 against Tulane. Tip-off is slated for 7 p.m. at Williams Arena at Minges Coliseum.
