East Carolina Faces USF in First American Conference Game
December 27, 2014 | Women's Basketball
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
GREENVILLE, N.C.- After posting a 9-2 record in its non-conference slate, the East Carolina women's basketball team will play its very first American Athletic Conference game when it travels to Tampa, Fla., to face USF on Sunday, Dec. 28. Opening tipoff is scheduled for 12 noon and the contest will be televised nationally on ESPNU.
Sunday's matchup will feature a battle between a pair of The American's top teams, as the Bulls and Pirates were picked second and third, respectively, in the conference's preseason coaches' poll. Currently, the two squads rank in the same order in scoring offense at 71.5 and 70.5 points per game.
East Carolina (9-2) is currently riding a three-game winning streak that includes victories at Ohio, at Loyola Maryland and against Norfolk State. The Pirates currently rank second among all NCAA Division I teams in blocks per game (7.4), fourth in steals (14.2), sixth in field goal percentage defense (.325) and 12th in scoring defense, holding opponents to just 51.9 points per game.
ECU is led by preseason All-American Athletic Conference selection and redshirt junior Jada Payne, who ranks third in the league with 18.6 points per game and has four double-doubles through her first 11 contests this year. Her most recent double-double came in an 18-point, 10-rebound performance in the 65-36 win over Norfolk State on Dec. 20.
Junior forward I'Tiana Taylor is second on the team in scoring at 11.6 points per game, while her 8.6 rebounds rank first among East Carolina players and fifth in The American. Junior guard Jasmine Phillips is averaging 10 points and 4.4 rebounds, while her 2.8 steals per contest are tops in the conference.
USF (9-3) has also won three-straight ballgames and four of its last five. The Bulls are coming off a 90-87 overtime road win at Penn State, after also taking down Northern Colorado and their only common opponent with ECU, College of Charleston.
Junior guard Courtney Williams leads the way with 19.9 points per game and an 86.7 percent clip at the free throw line, as both marks rank second in The American. Her 8.3 rebounds stand eighth among players in the conference. Junior forward Alisia Jenkins is averaging a double-double this year with 13 points and a league-leading 11.8 rebounds per game.
The meeting will be the seventh all-time between the Pirates and Bulls, with ECU owning a 5-1 overall lead in the series and a 3-0 record in road contests, as it won the last meeting, 63-60, during the 2009-10 campaign.
