East Carolina University
SMU
Mills Leads Pirates To 75-63 Win Over SMU
January 27, 2006 | Women's Basketball
Jan. 27, 2006
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GREENVILLE, N.C. - The East Carolina women's basketball team improved to 12-6 overall and 4-3 in Conference USA play Friday night after beating SMU 75-63 inside Williams Arena at Minges Coliseum.
ECU jumped out early on SMU (10-10, 5-3) in the first four minutes of play building a seven point lead, 14-7, on one of Jessica Slack's five baskets on the night. During the opening run, Slack netted seven points, one of which was from three-point land, while junior Cherie Mills added four of her game-high 22.
Janielle Dodds, who recorded a double-double on the night, scored four straight Mustang points to close the lead to three, 14-11, with 14:24 remaining until intermission. The Pirates would once again extend their lead to seven (20-13) when freshman Jasmine Young connected on a pair of free throw attempts at the 11:56 mark.
Over the next five minutes, ECU was held without a basket as SMU drew to within two, 22-20, on a layup by Kendall Shead. The Pirates would get consecutive baskets by freshman Impris Manning to extend its lead to six, 26-20. Closing out the half, SMU cut the Pirate lead to 33-32 when Sarah Davis drained both free throw attempts with 30 seconds remaining.
The Pirates, who were a perfect 6-0 on the season when leading at the half, extended its lead to six on two separate occasions in the first 2:38 of the second half on a pair of Mills baskets. But a Dodds lay-up sparked a 14-2 Mustang run that saw the Pirates trailing themselves by six, 48-42, with just under 14 minutes remaining after a Sharee Shepard three-pointer.
ECU would knot the game at 48-48 on another Mills basket at the 11:53 mark. The game would teeter back-and-forth over the next three minutes, with ECU eventually taking the lead (52-50) for good on a pair of LaCoya Terry free throws. SMU kept within striking distances over the next 6:45 of play, but eight points by Mills in the final three minutes capped off a 10-2 run to seal the victory for the Pirates, 75-63.
"I thought we played extremely well tonight," said head coach Sharon Baldwin-Tener. "We knew this was going to be a big game and that someone else had to step it up since they were keying in on Cherie and that is what Jasmine and (Jessica) Slack did tonight."
The Pirates will look to make it three in a row on Sunday when they host Tulsa at 1 p.m.
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