ECU Travels To Maryland For WNIT Second Round
March 20, 2010 | Women's Basketball
March 20, 2010
Complete WNIT Second Round Game Notes In PDF Fprmat
ECU Women's Basketball Gameday Central
COLLEGE PARK, Md. - Following a stunning comeback victory at Drexel in the first round of the 2010 WNIT, the East Carolina women's basketball team heads to College Park, Md. Sunday for a second-round tilt with the Maryland Terrapins. Tipoff at the Comcast Center is slated for 12 noon.
The Lady Pirates (23-10) were down by 18 points with six minutes left against the Dragons, but rallied to force overtime with two Jean Best free throws with five seconds showing on the regulation clock. Allison Spivey then put back a missed layup with a tenth of a second left in overtime to seal the victory. The win marked the first postseason triumph for ECU that was not in a consolation round. The Lady Pirates also drew within one win of tying the program single season record while improving to 5-0 in overtime this year.
Ashley Clarke scored all 16 of her points after halftime to end up with the team lead. Jean Best added 15 while Chareya Smith and Kim Gay chipped in 14 and 12. Gay almost completed her fifth career double-double, pulling down nine rebounds. Additionally, Allison Spivey recorded seven assists. For Drexel, Gabriela Marginean put in a game-high 35 points.
East Carolina matched its season average from the field, shooting 46 percent while holding the Dragons to 41 percent. ECU also ended up on top in rebounding 42-33 while picking up 16 important offensive rebounds.
In the first round 88-53 win over Iona College, the Terrapins (20-12) earned their 20th win this season, giving head coach Brenda Frese her 10th career and sixth consecutive 20-plus win season.
Sophomore Kim Rodgers and freshman Tianna Hawkins led Maryland with 15 points each. Rodgers was 5-for-6 from the field, all shots from behind the arc to tie her career-high in just 15 minutes of play. Hawkins earned her seventh career double-double adding a game-high 10 rebounds to her 15 points as well as one assist, two blocks and a steal. Three other Terps contributed at least 10 points. Senior Lori Bjork posted 12, freshman Jackie Nared put up 11 behind three treys and a jumper and sophomore Anjale Barrett added 10 points and five assists.
Maryland found its stride early in the first half going 18-for-32 from the field (.563) and hitting seven of its season-high 13 three pointers. The Terps continued spot on shooting with a 17-for-33 performance in the final 20 minutes. They outrebounded the Gaels 52-30 and outscored them in the paint, on second chance points, on fast breaks and in bench points. The Terrapins' largest lead came with four minutes on the clock as Nared hit a jumper to extend the advantage to 38.
East Carolina and Maryland have never met on the hardwood. The last win over an Atlantic Coast Conference opponent for the Lady Pirates occurred in 2007 when ECU knocked off No. 24 N.C. State 89-82. That victory also served as the first-ever over a ranked opponent.
The winner of Sunday's contest moves on to the third round to face the victor of Old Dominion and host Providence.
