Women's Hoops Closes Non-Conference Play
December 27, 2010 | Women's Basketball
Dec. 27, 2010
ECU-Prairie View Live Stats | ECU-Florida A&M Live Stats | Game Notes
East Carolina Women's Basketball Gameday Central
AMES, Iowa - East Carolina closes non-conference play Dec. 29-30 at the Iowa State Cyclone Challenge in Ames, Iowa. The Pirates (5-6) will not face host Iowa State, but will take on Prairie View A&M and Florida A&M.
ECU has a 1-0 record against the Rattlers, capturing a 78-41 decision in the 2006 Lady Pirate Invitational, but has not met the Panthers.
In its last two games in Hawai'i, East Carolina rallied late before falling to No. 9 UCLA, 81-67, but rebounded to defeat the host Rainbow Wahine 71-63 less than 24 hours later. The Pirates are now 3-1 in true road contests this season.
ABOUT THE PANTHERS...
Prairie View A&M is 4-5 overall entering the game with ECU and is on a two-game losing streak, having fallen at West Virginia (71-39) and LSU (70-48). The Panthers are yet to play at home this year and hold a 4-0 ledger in neutral site affairs with victories over Gardner-Webb, Texas-Pan American, Long Beach State and Louisiana-Monroe. PVAM's offense is led by Siarra Solis, who averages 12.8 points per game and has started six of nine contests. On the glass, Latia Williams serves as the top rebounder with 54 total boards (7.4 avg.). As a team, the Panthers shoot 36.7 percent from the field, 34.3 beyond the arc and 70.8 at the line. PVAM is also out-rebounded by its opponents by 9.3 boards per game and is averaging nearly 20 turnovers each outing.
ABOUT THE RATTLERS...
Florida A&M owns a 4-5 overall record but dropped three-straight games before rebounding to beat Savannah State in its last contest. The Rattlers have played just one neutral site game, an 86-60 loss to North Carolina State. Tameka McKelton is the leading scorer for Florida A&M, averaging 18.2 points per game while Qiana Donald is the top rebounder at 7.8. In terms of shooting, the Rattlers are 36.9 percent from the field, 25.9 behind the three-point line and 61.0 when attempting free throws. Florida A&M averages 39.1 rebounds but is allowing 41.6 to its opponents. Scoring-wise, the Rattlers put up 59.7 points a game and give up 64. They have struggled to take care of the ball as well, averaging 20 turnovers per contest. Additionally, Florida A&M has a road win over C-USA member UAB, downing the Blazers 67-65 on Nov. 14.
A LOOK AT ECU IN REGULAR SEASON TOURNAMENT PLAY...
Since joining Conference USA, East Carolina holds a record of 29-21 in regular-season tournament play. The Pirates have won seven titles in that timespan, including three in the last two-plus seasons alone. ECU went to the Bahamas in 2008 and won the Sunsplash Shootout championship with victories over Mercer and Florida Atlantic before heading to South Florida last season and knocking off Houston-Baptist and the host South Florida Bulls to claim the USF Shootout title. This season, ECU is 2-2 with a wins over Massachusetts and Hawai'i.
KNOCKING IT OUT IN NON-CONFERENCE PLAY...
If the Pirates can capture both contests at the Iowa State Cyclone Challenge, they will turn in a winning non-conference record for the third-straight season.
THE PATH TO 600...
East Carolina is just eight wins away from recording its 600th victory in program history.
THREE ME...
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 UCLA and Hawai'i, senior Allison Spivey took over third on the program career chart but is now four away from second-place.
TOUGH STRETCH...
East Carolina is in the midst of a four-game stretch against teams that participated in the postseason last year. VCU and Charlotte were WNIT qualifiers while Hampton and UCLA earned bids to the NCAA Tournament.
A KIND ROAD TO START...
With wins over Western Carolina and VCU, ECU started 2-0 away from home for the first time since the 1998-99 season when the Pirates captured victories at Campbell and Charlotte.
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.
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 59 of the last 75 games and eight of 11 this year.
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.
UP NEXT FOR THE PIRATES...
ECU opens its 10th season of Conference USA play Jan. 6 when it takes on UTEP in El Paso, Texas - the site of this year's league tournament. Tipoff is scheduled for 9 p.m. ET at the Don Haskins Center.
