East Carolina University
4-0
Delaware
1-2
East Carolina Topples Delaware, 89-60
November 21, 2014 | Women's Basketball
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GREENVILLE, N.C. - Making her first-career start, junior guard Jasmine Phillips scored 16 of her career-high 20 points in the first half to lift the East Carolina women's basketball team to an 89-60 victory over Delaware on Friday afternoon in front of a record crowd of 4,935 fans in Williams Arena at Minges Coliseum.
Phillips led all scorers in the points column on 9-for-14 shooting from the floor and made both of her attempts from 3-point range, while also grabbing a game-high nine rebounds, a personal-best six steals and committing no turnovers on the day.
"She was sensational," head coach Heather Macy said. "In practice, she keeps on getting better and better. This was her come-out game and we expect her to keep getting better. We hope she stays consistent, and we believe this is not an isolated performance."
East Carolina (4-0) senior point guard Janesha Ebron filled up four statistical categories with five points, seven rebounds, six assists and four steals, as juniors I'Tiana Taylor and DeVaughn Gray chipped in 15 points apiece. Redshirt junior Jada Payne scored 14 points, while senior post player Ondrea Shaw had four blocks to move herself into sole possession of fourth place on the school's all-time list.
Both sides traded baskets for the first eight-plus of the game, as Delaware (1-2) took a 14-12 lead on a 3-pointer by Hannah Jardine with 11:29 remaining in the first half. That would be the last time the Blue Hens held a lead, as Gray countered with a three of her own less than a minute later, sparking a 15-7 run by the Pirates, capped by a Phillips layup with 7:32 to go. ECU pushed its lead to as many as 15 in the period, before taking a 43-31 lead into the locker rooms at halftime.
East Carolina shot 17-for-34 (.500) from the field and 5-of-10 (.500) from beyond the arc in the first half, while outscoring Delaware, 24-8, in the paint. The Blue Hens shot just 10-for-27 (.370) overall, but went 3-for-4 (.750) from 3-point land and 8-for-11 (.727) from the free throw line in the period.
The Pirates kept their feet on the throttle in the second half on both ends of the floor, using full-court pressure on the defensive side and effective ball movement in transition to ultimately put the game out of reach. ECU had doubled its halftime advantage after a pair of free throws by Taylor made the score 66-40 with just 10:07 remaining in the game.
East Carolina extended its lead to more than 30 in the subsequent five minutes of action and was able to give its reserve players valuable court time the rest of the way, as junior forward Chelsie Keys' layup with 4:19 left on the clock created what would be the team's largest advantage of the contest, 85-50.
"Defensively, we can create turnovers and we can score in bunches," Macy said. "We are so deep that the fatigue hasn't shown at all. As a team, strategically with these three games in five days, it's going to tell us how we are going to play in a tournament atmosphere."
The Pirates outscored the Blue Hens, 31-14, off turnovers, 13-4 on second-chance baskets, 12-3 on the fast break and 44-14 off the bench. ECU finished the day shooting 30-for-70 (.429) overall, 10-for-24 (.417) from beyond the arc and 19-for-26 (.731) from the foul line. Delaware shot 20-for-47 (.426) from the field, but took just one attempt from 3-point range in the second half, and made 17 of 29 (.586) free throws.
"I'm just really proud of how the team played," Macy said. "I really thought they did an amazing job, and we really played team basketball. We are enjoying this for a couple minutes, then getting ready for Sunday's tipoff."
East Carolina will close out its three-game home stand Sunday, Nov. 23 against Bethune-Cookman. Start time is scheduled for 2 p.m.
