East Carolina University
Virginia
No. 19 Virginia Bests Lady Pirates, 80-67
December 06, 2008 | Women's Basketball
Dec. 6, 2008
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. - The East Carolina women's basketball team couldn't overcome No. 19 Virginia on Saturday afternoon, dropping an 80-67 contest inside the John Paul Jones Arena in Charlottesville, Va. The Lady Pirates are now 4-3 overall while the Cavaliers improve to 7-2.
ECU kept it close early, taking its first lead of the game on two Lauren Cochran free throws two minutes into the game. The Lady Pirates would stretch their advantage to 20-16 when senior Jasmine Young connected on a three-pointer with 13:00 minutes remaining in the half. After falling behind 26-24 just under the 10-minute mark, senior LaCoya Terry drilled a trey from the right side to give East Carolina a 27-26 lead. However, Virginia would go on a 17-3 run over the next six minutes to take its largest advantage of the contest at 43-30. The Lady Pirates then went on a 5-3 stretch of their own, making the score 46-35 in favor of the homestanding Cavaliers at the break.
Terry led all scorers at the half, pouring in 17 points, including 7-for-7 efficiency from the charity stripe. Monica Wright paced Virginia, netting 16 in the stanza. The Cavaliers had the slight rebounding advantage, corralling 24 as compared to 23 for East Carolina.
Sophomore Kim Gay cut the deficit to nine just 11 seconds into the second half, when she drilled a 12-foot jumper to make the score 46-37. The Lady Pirates would get within seven points at 53-46 with 15 minutes left in the game. However, Virginia outscored ECU 19-9 over the next eight minutes to put the game away. The Lady Pirates came within 14 with 2:40 left on a Gabriela Husarova trey and freshman Ashley Clarke hit a layup with nine seconds left to provide the final 13-point margin.
Terry produced her second-highest point output of the season, as she blazed the nets for 25. The senior also led East Carolina on the glass, picking up eight boards. Wright and Aisha Mohammed scored 23 and 20, respectively, to pace the Cavaliers.
Virginia enjoyed a nice shooting afternoon, hitting 30-of-69 from the field to finish at a percentage of 43.5. However, the Lady Pirates did a fine job on the boards, out-rebounding the Cavaliers 48-44, including 18 offensive rebounds.
The Lady Pirates will be back in action next Sunday when they travel to Wilmington for a game against UNC Wilmington. Tip off is set for 4 p.m. inside Trask Coliseum.
