East Carolina Women's Basketball Hosts Delaware Friday
November 20, 2014 | Women's Basketball
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GREENVILLE, N.C. - After holding off College of Charleston in Wednesday's home opener, the East Carolina women's basketball team will host its second consecutive Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) opponent when it takes on Delaware at 11:30 a.m., Friday in Williams Arena at Minges Coliseum.
The meeting between the Pirates and Blue Hens will be the second in the all-time series, with the lone matchup coming Dec. 28, 2011 at the University of Maryland's Terrapin Classic, where ECU fell, 60-40.
Redshirt junior and preseason All-American Athletic Conference selection Jada Payne is off to a torrid start through the first three games of the season, shooting 52.1 percent from the floor while averaging 21.3 points and 9.7 rebounds per game. The Hickory, N.C., native has two double-doubles thus far, posting 21 points and 11 rebounds in the season opener versus Fairfield, before tallying 24 points and matching her career high with 13 rebounds against College of Charleston.
Junior I'Tiana Taylor has been a huge boost off the bench for East Carolina (3-0), averaging 9.7 points and 8.7 rebounds per game. Her presence on the offensive boards have been of paramount importance, as the Pirates have recorded at least 20 in each of its first three contests.
Delaware (1-1) is led by freshman guard Chastity Taylor, who earned CAA Rookie-of-the-Week honors after shooting 5-for-8 with 12 points, three rebounds and two assists in a 70-60 victory over Marist last Sunday. The Blue Hens return 11 players and three starters from their squad last year, including its second leading scorer, Courtni Green, who averaged 10.1 points per game in 2013-14.
AN EXPERIENCED UNIT
ECU returns all five of its starters from its 2013-14 team that won 22 games. Senior guard Janesha Ebron and senior forward Tatiana Chapple, both three-year starters, have lined up for the opening tip in more than 90 games during their careers, respectively. Redshirt senior guard/forward Abria Trice, senior post player Ondrea Shaw and redshirt junior guard Jada Payne each started at least 28 of the team's 31 contests last season, while senior forward Shae Nelson played 27 games last season and averaged 11 points per game off the bench.
ENTERING THE NATIONAL SPOTLIGHT
Complementing ECU's entrance into the spotlight of NCAA women's basketball with its memership in The American Athletic Conference, the Pirates will make numerous national television appearances this season. Nine games will be broadcast across ESPN networks, include two contests on ESPNU, with seven more on ESPN 3. Both meetings with Connecticut will be aired by SNY.
COUNTDOWN TO 200
Head coach Heather Macy, in her 10th season as a head coach and fifth at ECU, entered the season with 187-career wins and is now just 10 victories away from 200 for her career.
GRAY GETS GREEN LIGHT
Junior DeVaughn Gray had one of the most memorable ECU debuts in the Pirates' season-opening victory over Fairfield at the URI Invitational when she scored a game-high 25 points on 9-for-13 shooting and tied the program record with seven 3-pointers on just eight attempts. She shot a perfect 4-for-4 from distance in the second half. The seven treys tied Misty Horne (1998 vs. Norfolk State) and Justine Allpress (1996 vs. Hampton) for the most in a game. She followed up that performance by making two more shots from beyond the arc the following day, en route to scoring 14 points and grabbing eight rebounds in a 66-38 win at Rhode Island.
BLOCKBUSTER
Senior post player Ondrea Shaw tied her career-high with seven blocked shots in the 66-38 blowout of Rhode Island on Nov. 15. She also posted seven blocks at Bethune Cookman on Dec. 29, 2013. The Los Angeles native broke the single-season school record with 101 blocked shots during her initial season with the Pirates in 2013-14. She established herself among the nation's top shot-blockers at 3.26 per game, which ranked ninth. Shaw began the year fifth on the school's all-time list and is now just 103 rejections away from setting the school record.
