Lady Pirates Face Memphis At FedExForum
February 26, 2010 | Women's Basketball
Feb. 26, 2010
East Carolina Women's Basketball Gameday Central
Updated 2009-10 Season Statistics
MEMPHIS, Tenn. - The East Carolina women's basketball team takes its road swing to the FedExForum Saturday, facing off against Memphis at 2 p.m. ET. The contest is slated for a live national broadcast on CBS College Sports with Jason Knapp and Ann Schatz on the call.
The Lady Pirates (18-9, 7-7) still have a chance to snag one of the four first round byes in the Conference USA Tournament, despite losing 65-57 at UAB Thursday. If ECU can win its last two regular season games and have Houston lose just once in its last two, the Lady Pirates would clinch fourth-place.
Against the Blazers, Kelly Smith led the charge with 13 points while Jean Best pulled down a team-best eight rebounds. Ashley Clarke also dished out a team-high three assists.
The Blazers shot the ball at 38.2 percent while holding East Carolina to just 30 percent. East Carolina did however hold a 42-37 advantage on the glass and an 11-8 margin in assists.
Clarke paces the Lady Pirate offense with 11.9 points per game, while Allison Spivey is not far behind at 10.9 a contest. Kim Gay is the top ECU rebounder, pulling down 5.4 boards per affair. Additionally, Clarke is averaging a league-best 5.4 assists and needs just one free throw to reach 100 for the season.
The Lady Pirates are shooting the ball at a C-USA-best 45.5 percent while also holding the league's top scoring average at 70.7 points per game. East Carolina averages 40.1 rebounds a contest and holds a +5.4 margin on the glass.
Memphis enters the contest as the winner of its last three of four, most recently taking out Marshall 62-53 Thursday. Brittany Carter is the league's top scorer at 18.4 points per game while Savannah Ellis is corralling a squad-high 6.7 rebounds over 27 contests.
The Tigers shoot the ball at 41 percent from the field and 30.6 percent from beyond the arc. However, Memphis struggles at the free throw line, converting just 51.7 percent this year.
The teams will meet for the 15th time and the Lady Pirates lead the overall series, 8-6. ECU downed Memphis 76-59 in the meeting in Greenville earlier this season, but the Tigers are on top in the series when the games are played in Memphis, 4-2. Prior to the loss in Greenville, Memphis had won three of the last four games against the Lady Pirates.
