Lady Pirates Complete Road Swing At UCF
February 06, 2010 | Women's Basketball
Feb. 6, 2010
East Carolina Women's Basketball Gameday Central
ORLANDO, Fla. - The East Carolina women's basketball team plays the second contest of the weekend Saturday, battling UCF at 7 p.m. at the UCF Arena.
The Lady Pirates (17-5, 6-3) suffered a 59-55 loss at Southern Miss Thursday, falling behind early in the contest. ECU tied things with a little less than 10 minutes to go in the affair, but could not suppress the homestanding Golden Eagles.
Freshman Ariana Jackson netted a career-high 13 in the loss while Allison Spivey put in 12. Ashley Clarke pulled down six rebounds and a trio of East Carolina players handed out three assists.
Southern Miss shot 43.6 from the floor while holding the Lady Pirates to just 37.3 percent. East Carolina held the slight margin on the boards, picking up 37 to 36 for the home team. Free throw shooting hurt the Lady Pirates, as they converted just five of their 13 attempts.
Meanwhile, the Knights (5-12, 2-6) picked up a 56-47 win over Marshall Thursday, as 2009 C-USA Preseason Player-of-the-Year Emma Cannon returned to the lineup and played 22 minutes off the bench.
Clarke and Spivey pace the ECU offense, scoring 12.5 and 11.6 points per game, respectively. Clarke also leads the squad in minutes played (32.1), field goals made (98), free throws made (74), assists (121), assists per game (5.5) and steals (51). The Lady Pirates are shooting the ball at a league-leading 47.4 percent clip while also topping C-USA in points per game (74.1), three-point field goal percentage (38.7) and rebounding margin (+5.2).
THE SERIES: UCF
Today's contest marks the 10th in a series that East Carolina leads 8-2. The Lady Pirates picked up a 73-62 home win over UCF earlier this season (Jan. 10). ECU is 2-2 in tilts played in Orlando.
AT THEIR PLACE
The Lady Pirates are credited with a 275-328 (.456) record away from Greenville since the program began before the 1969-70 campaign. In 2008-09, ECU was 3-9 in true road contests while 3-2 at neutral sites. Since Baldwin-Tener took over the reigns, the Lady Pirates are 47-74 (.388) in front of non-partisan crowds. The team was just 1-7 in league games on the road last season, salvaging a 70-60 win at UAB in the final conference away contest of 2008-09.
ROAD TRIPS NOT KIND
Over the past three seasons, conference play on the road has been a thorn in East Carolina's side. Since the start of league action in 2007-08, the Lady Pirates have picked up just four wins away from Minges Coliseum in 20 tries.
KEEP THEM OFF THE GLASS
In nine conference games this season, the Lady Pirates have given up 149 offensive rebounds, an average of 16.6 per contest. That mark has led to 131 second chance points for opponents.
VALUE EVERY POSSESSION
ECU has reached the 20-turnover mark 16 times this season, including 29 against UCF. That has led to a turnover margin of -2.0. Additionally, teams have scored 419 points off of those giveaways.
MAKING IT RUN
Ashley Clarke has steadily improved during her sophomore campaign, having a greater ability to make the offense go this season. Of the Lady Pirates' 586 field goals, Clarke has made or assisted on 219 of them, a percentage of .374. Allison Spivey has the second-best mark on the squad at .263 (154-of-586).
AMONG THE NATIONAL LEADERS
The Lady Pirates are among the top 50 in many categories in the latest national rankings. ECU is fourth in field goal percentage (.479), eighth in three-point field goal percentage (.391), 14th in assists per game (16.5), 23rd in scoring (75.0) and winning percentage (.810), 42nd in scoring margin (+11.0) and rebound margin (+5.4), and 50th in three-point field goal percentage defense (.288). Additionally, Allison Spivey checks in at 10th in three-point field goal percentage (.467) while Ashley Clarke is 21st in assists (5.6) and 78th in steals (2.4).
INTO THE WEST
When comparing the Lady Pirate record against the East and West schools in Conference USA, there lies a striking contrast. Since joining the league, East Carolina is 40-26 (.606) versus its East neighbors and just 15-26 (.366) against the West. So far in 2009-10, the Lady Pirates have picked up wins over all five of the East members (Marshall, Southern Miss, UCF, UAB and Memphis) and Houston from the West while dropping decisions to West foes Rice and SMU as well as aforementioned Southern Miss.
SUPER BALANCED
ECU has used its balance to its advantage this season. The Lady Pirates have six players averaging 7.5 or more points per game while every member of the 2009-10 roster played, scored and had a rebound in the 103-59 win over Houston-Baptist. There are also six players averaging more than 20 minutes per game. In C-USA games, three players are putting in double figures in scoring.
UP NEXT FOR THE LADY PIRATES
The Lady Pirates return home next week for their final three home contests, starting Thursday Feb. 11 against UTEP. ECU also hosts Tulane on Feb. 13 before closing out its Minges Coliseum schedule against Tulsa the following Sunday.
