Lady Pirates Travel To American Sunday

Nov. 21, 2009

WASHINGTON, D.C. - The East Carolina women's basketball team plays its first road contest of the 2009-10 season Sunday, when it travels to Washington, D.C. for a 2 p.m. tipoff with American at Bender Arena. The Lady Pirates are off to a 3-0 start for the second-straight campaign and look to move to 4-0 for the first time since the 1998-99 season.

Sophomore Ashley Clarke has scored in double-digits all three contests and leads the team with a 19.0 points per game average. The Eagles play their home opener Sunday and are 2-1 after a 64-54 win at Brown last Wednesday.

ECU is coming off a 72-52 victory over rival UNC Wilmington Thursday at Minges Coliseum. With the victory, head coach Sharon Baldwin-Tener took over sole possession of second-place on the ECU coaching wins ledger as she now owns 106. The eighth-year leader now needs just five wins to surpass Catherine Bolton for first. Additionally, sophomore Chareya Smith set a career-high point total with 14 off of the bench.

Clarke led all scorers in the contest, netting her third double-digit scoring effort of the season with 15 points. She also matched her personal standard in assists, dishing out eight in 33 minutes. Allison Spivey reached double figures, picking up 13 on 5-for-8 shooting from the field and 3-for-4 efficiency from beyond the arc. Clarke and Smith also shot the ball well, as they combined to go 13-for-17.

THE SERIES: AMERICAN
East Carolina and American meet Sunday for the 39th time in a series that dates back to 1984. The Lady PIrates hold a 26-12 advantage and have won four of the last five meetings. Three of those contests occurred in Minges Coliseum as ECU won all three. The Lady Pirates were a charter member of the Colonial Athletic Association, and all but three of the meetings with the Eagles have occurred as a league contest. Sunday's affair is the fourth non-conference tilt in series history.

EAST CAROLINA AGAINST THE PATRIOT LEAGUE
East Carolina holds an all-time mark of 27-12 (.692) against current members of the Patriot League. The Lady Pirates have faced off against American (26-12) and Lafayette (1-0), but have never taken on Army, Bucknell, Colgate, Holy Cross, Lehigh or Navy.

TAKE ME WITH YOU
The Lady Pirates are credited with a 269-323 (.454) record away from Greenville since the program began before the 1969-70 campaign. In 2008-09, ECU was 3-9 in true road contests while 3-2 at neutral sites. Since Baldwin-Tener took over the reigns, the Lady Pirates are 41-69 (.373) in front of non-partisan crowds. The team was just 1-7 in league games on the road last season, salvaging a 70-60 win at UAB in the final conference away contest of 2008-09.

OTHERS TAKING NOTE
The Lady Pirate fans are not the only people taking note of the team's play so far this season. In the first ESPN/USA Today Top 25 poll, East Carolina received a vote. It marks the second-straight campaign in which the Lady Pirates have appeared on the list. ECU garnered as many as six votes during the 2008-09 season.

FIRST TO 30...FIELD GOALS
East Carolina converted 30 field goals against UNCW Thursday, marking the 15th time since the start of the 2006-07 campaign that the Lady Pirates have accomplished the feat. In those contests, ECU has amassed a record of 13-2.

SHARING IS CARING (AND WINNING)
During the preseason, Baldwin-Tener called her 2009-10 Lady Pirates the most unselfish team she has coached. Those words have rung true so far in the season, as ECU has recorded 50 assists to its opponents' 32. Last year, the team ranked second in C-USA, averaging 16.19 assists per contest.

NICE NON-CONFERENCE NOTE
East Carolina has always regarded non-conference games as a chance to get better before heading into the rigors of C-USA play. Therefore, it should come as no surprise that the Lady Pirates have recently excelled in those affairs. In its last 16 non-league games, ECU has produced a record of 12-4 (.750). The four losses, to VCU, North Carolina A&T, Virigina and Marist, all occurred during the 2008-09 season and all four teams qualified for the NCAA Tournament.

FIRING AT 50
The Lady Pirates are off to another great shooting start, firing at a 47.8 clip in their first three contests. ECU has also shot at 50 percent or above in three of six halves - the second half against Charlotte, the first period vs. Western Carolina and the second half against UNCW.

UP NEXT FOR THE LADY PIRATES
After today's tilt at American, the Lady Pirates return home Nov. 27- 28 to host the Eighth-Annual Lady Pirate Invitational.

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