East Carolina University
UMBC
UMBC Rallies Past ECU, 64-58
December 28, 2009 | Women's Basketball
Dec. 28, 2009
BRONX, N.Y. - The East Carolina women's basketball team could not hold off UMBC, falling 66-58 for its second loss of the season Monday in the second game of the Fordham Holiday Classic Monday at Rose Hill Gymnasium. The Lady Pirates are now 10-2 in 2009-10 while the Retrievers improve to 5-6.
ECU jumped out to a 15-4 lead on the strength of eight points from Kelly Smith, but UMBC rallied to within 15-9 six minutes into the game. The Lady Pirates then re-established their double-digit lead as Chareya Smith hit a free throw to make the score 24-13 at the nine minute mark.
Carlee Cassidy kept the Retrievers within striking distance, hitting three consecutive treys to make the score 29-22 with 5:14 left in the half. After a shot clock violation gave the ball back to East Carolina with a minute remaining in the period, Kim Gay converted a put-back layup off of an offensive rebound to give the Lady Pirates a 36-27 advantage. However, Cassidy produced a three-point play with eight seconds showing to pull UMBC back to within 36-30 at the break.
Kelly Smith hit four three-point field goals on her way to a team-high 14 points in the period while Ashley Clarke added six. Clarke and Kim Gay pulled down a squad-best five boards, followed closely by Jean Best with four. Additionally, Clarke handed out four assists.
ECU converted 15 field goals on 34 attempts in the half to shoot 44.1 percent while the Retrievers produced a 36.7 mark. The Lady Pirates also held the advatage on the boards, picking up 22 rebounds as compared to 15 for UMBC, while also taking advantage of six offensive rebounds that turned into eight second-chance points.
The Retrievers rallied and cut their deficit to just two at 41-39, when Michelle Colabella converted a layup, and then eventually took its first lead of the contest as Katie Brooks hit a runner in the lane to make the score 44-43 at the 11:52 mark.
Spivey nailed two-straight from beyond the arc to tie the game at 50, but Michele Kurowski answered right back to make the score 53-50 with 7:11 left in the contest. Cassidy then hit her sixth and seventh treys of the game to give the Retrievers a 61-50 advantage as the clock ticked under four minutes.
The Lady Pirates cut the lead to five at 61-56 with under two minutes left, but could not complete the comeback.
Kelly Smith and Spivey both scored 14 points for ECU, while Clarke added 12. Gay corralled a team-best eight rebounds and Clarke notched six assists.
The Lady Pirates shot just 33.3 percent in the game while UMBC converted 24 field goals and nine three-pointers to produce a 46.2 percentage. East Carolina also enjoyed a 39-34 margin on the glass.
The Retrievers were also helped out by their bench, which scored 15 points as compared to 11 for ECU.
The Lady Pirates are back in action tomorrow, as they play Binghamton at 3 p.m. to close out the Fordham Holiday Classic and non-conference play.
