ECU Begins Road Swing At VCU
December 01, 2010 | Women's Basketball
Dec. 1, 2010
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East Carolina Women's Basketball Gameday Central
RICHMOND, Va. - East Carolina looks to capture consecutive victories for the first time this season as it takes on VCU Thursday. Tipoff from the Verizon Wireless Arena is set for 7 p.m.
The teams have split the last two meetings with ECU capturing an 88-85 win in Greenville last season after the Rams downed East Carolina 78-67 in Richmond Nov. 25, 2008.
The Pirates cruised past Massachusetts 97-83 Sunday in the finale of the Ninth-Annual Pirate Invitational, holding a 17-point halftime lead thanks to 59-percent shooting in the first 20 minutes.
ECU has now won 26 of its last 33 home contests and with the victory, improved to 3-0 all-time against Massachusetts. On the school career chart, senior Allison Spivey took over fourth for three-point field goals as her four in the game left her with 156.
Spivey and Kelly Smith knocked down eight combined treys to finish with 16 and 12 points, respectively. Ashley Clarke, Chareya Smith and Kim Gay also put in double figures with 15, 12 and 11. Gay topped the team with five rebounds while Clarke recorded a squad-best eight assists as part of a 28-assist performance by the Pirates. Additionally, Ariana Jackson pocketed three of the Pirates' 12 steals.
East Carolina converted 36 of 68 attempts from the field to produce a 52.9 percentage and took care of the ball well, committing just nine turnovers while forcing 19 from Massachusetts. ECU turned in at least 30 or more field goals in a game for the 25th time since the start of the 2006-07 season. Shakia Robinson netted 30 points for the Minutewomen, hitting 13 of their 31 shots from the field.
Clarke paces the Pirates in scoring, ranking 18th in Conference USA with 12.5 per game, while Gay is just behind her with a 12.3 average. Clarke also leads ECU in steals (24) and assists (26), sitting fourth nationally in steals per game (4.0).
While East Carolina is averaging 80 points per game, the 26th-highest total nationally, it is also giving up 72 a contest. The Pirates are also getting outrebounded by an average of seven each game.
The Rams enter Thursday's affair having played just three games. VCU has defeated High Point and Winthrop but suffered a 63-61 loss in overtime at Virginia Tech in its most recent appearance. Junior Courtney Hurt is VCU's leader, averaging a double-double with 23.7 points and 12.0 rebounds per game.
THE SERIES: VCU
East Carolina and VCU meet tonight for the 23rd time in a series that began in 1991. The Pirates own a 12-10 lead while the Rams have won three of the last four contests. ECU and VCU have played for the past six seasons and battled 16 times when both squads were members of the Colonial Athletic Association.
EAST CAROLINA AGAINST THE CAA
East Carolina holds an all-time mark of 136-132 (.507) against the current members of the Colonial Athletic Association. The Pirates have squared off against Drexel (2-0), George Mason (24-21), Georgia State (1-0), Hofstra (1-0), James Madison (26-29), Northeastern (1-0), Old Dominion (8-42), Towson (1-0), VCU (12-10), William and Mary (31-11) and UNC Wilmington (29-19).
PIRATES AGAINST THE COMMONWEALTH STATE
The Pirates own an all-time mark of 138-146 (.486) against schools in the state of Virginia. ECU has tangled with George Mason (24-21), Hampton (5-0), James Madison (26-29), Longwood (7-2), Norfolk State (1-1), Old Dominion (8-42), Radford (2-1), Richmond (17-24), Virginia (2-1), Virginia Commonwealth (12-10), Virginia State (1-0), Virginia Tech (2-4) and William and Mary (31-11).
TOUGH STRETCH
Starting with tonight's matchup with VCU, East Carolina plays four-straight games against teams that participated in the postseason last year. The Rams and Charlotte were WNIT qualifiers while Hampton and No. 13 UCLA earned bids to the NCAA Tournament.
THE GOOD KIND OF OFFENSIVE
ECU owns the top two offensive outputs among C-USA teams this season with 102 points against Virginia Union and 97 vs. Massachusetts. The Pirates also boast the two highest single-game assist totals - 28 against the Minutewomen and 25 vs. the Panthers.
FIRST TO 30...FIELD GOALS
East Carolina converted 36 field goals against Massachusetts, marking the 25th time since the start of the 2006-07 campaign that the Pirates have accomplished the feat. Four of the last seven have been in overtime.
SIGNED AND SEALED
The Pirates have signed two top 65 position recruits in Courtney Melvin and Ja'Nesha Ebron as well as the No. 102 ranked forward from Columbus, Ohio, Tatiana Chapple. Melvin was ranked the No. 31 post player in the nation by ESPN HoopGurlz while Ebron was tabbed No. 61 among guards by the same website. Both signees have North Carolina state championship game experience, as Melvin has led East Bladen High School to the last two title games (1A and 2A) and Ebron helped South Central to a 3A championship appearance. Current assistant coach Ann Hancock holds the scoring record at East Bladen with 2,276 but Melvin is just 547 behind and is poised the set a new Eagle standard during her senior year. Chapple is known as a lockdown defender in Central Ohio who averaged 5.9 points, seven rebounds, 2.1 steals and 1.7 blocks per game last season.
YOU'LL GET TO PLAY
It seems like the Pirate bench gets deeper with each passing season and is an extension of the starting five. There is some truth to that statement, as East Carolina's bench has outscored its opponents' benches in 56 of the last 70 games and five of six this season.
SHARING IS CARING
The Pirates recorded 28 assists on 36 made field goals against Massachusetts. It was just seven shy of the school record and the most since ECU tallied the same number against Houston-Baptist last season. Additionally, the Pirates turned the ball over just nine times for a stellar assist/turnover ratio of 3.1. The nine miscues were the fewest since Nov. 25, 2005 when East Carolina also recorded nine in a 71-68 overtime victory over Ohio University.
THREE ME...AGAIN AND AGAIN
In hitting 12 three-point field goals against Virginia Union, the Pirates established a new program single-game record. However, just six days later, ECU did one better with 13 vs. Massachusetts. With four triples against the Minutewomen, senior Allison Spivey took over fourth on the program career chart with 156 and is four away from capturing sole possession of third.
AMONG THE NATIONAL ELITE
The first set of national statistics came out this week and ECU is among the top 60 in seven different categories. The Pirates are ninth in steals per game, 13th in turnover margin, 26th in scoring offense, 35th in field goal percentage, 44th in assists per game, 55th in assist/turnover ratio and 57th in three-point field goal defense. Individually, Ashley Clarke ranks fourth in steals per game. East Carolina is the only C-USA team in the top 10 of any category.
MAKING IT RUN
Junior Ashley Clarke is responsible for nearly one-third of the Pirates' 170 field goals this season, having made 27 while assisting on 26. That is good for a percentage of .312.
UP NEXT FOR THE PIRATES
ECU wraps up its quick two-game road swing Sunday at Charlotte. The Pirates downed the 49ers 84-61 last year in the season opener for both teams at Minges Coliseum. Charlotte leads the all-time series 22-8 and has won four of the last five meetings. East Carolina has also lost four-straight contests at Halton Arena with the last win occurring during the 1998-99 season in an 85-81 decision.
