East Carolina University
Tulsa
Tulsa Edges Out Lady Pirates, 61-57
February 21, 2010 | Women's Basketball
Feb. 21, 2010
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GREENVILLE, N.C. - Despite a double-double effort from sophomore Ashley Clarke, the East Carolina women's basketball team suffered a 61-57 loss to Tulsa in its last home contest of the 2009-10 season Sunday afternoon at Minges Coliseum. The crowd of 2,808 was the ninth-largest in program history and the Lady Pirates (18-8, 7-6) finished 12-2 at home for the second-straight campaign.
"I thought we came out really flat defensively," head coach Sharon-Baldwin-Tener remarked. "We did not do a good job in the second half of boxing out, and that is something we have emphasized all year. It is just not happening right now."
Clarke grabbed a career-best 13 rebounds and added 11 assists, which matched her personal high. She was just five points away from recording the first triple-double in program history.
Tulsa (11-13, 5-8) jumped out to a 7-2 lead before a Clarke layup knotted the score at nine with 11:31 remaining in the half. The teams stayed within one possession of each other for the next six minutes, then Celeste Stewart drained a triple from the left side to give the Lady Pirates a 19-16 advantage at the 5:42 mark. The Golden Hurricane rallied with a 6-0 run, with all the points by Larrissa Williams, but ECU outscored Tulsa 6-3 the rest of the period to produce a 25-25 deadlock at the break.
Kelly Smith led the Lady Pirates with five points in the first 20 minutes, while all but one of the nine players scored for East Carolina. Clarke and Ariana Jackson both had seven rebounds as part of a 32-board effort. Clarke also had four assists.
ECU shot 33.3 percent in the half while holding Tulsa to just 25.7 percent. The Lady Pirates also held a distinct advantage on the glass, outrebounding the Golden Hurricane 36-20 and producing 11 offensive boards.
Tulsa took an eight-point lead just three minutes into the second half, but East Carolina took the lead back with two Shuanda Ashford free throws and led 42-41 at the 12:06 mark. The teams traded the advantage back and forth until the Golden Hurricane seized the upper hand for good with a Teka Brooks layup with 4:49 left. Jackson dropped in a three with nine seconds remaining to make the score 59-57, but Chanice Scott hit two free throws to seal the win.
Kim Gay and Chareya Smith shared the Lady Pirate lead in scoring with nine points each while Jackson pulled down a team second-best nine boards, a career high. Additionally, four ECU players recorded a block.
The Lady Pirates struggled from the field, hitting just 21 of their 60 attempts (35 percent), but Tulsa converted just 31.9 percent on 23-for-72 shooting. East Carolina ended up outrebounding the Golden Hurricane 52-42 and picking up the second-most total boards this season. The Lady Pirates also shared the ball well, recording 18 assists. The Golden Hurricane helped its cause with 20 second-chance points. Additionally, ECU committed a season-low 14 turnovers.
The Lady Pirates will kick off a regular season-ending three-game road trip, beginning Thursday, Feb. 25 at UAB. Tipoff at Bartow Arena is scheduled for 8 p.m.
