East Carolina University
9-3 (0-1AAC)
USF
10-3 (1-0AAC)
Pirates Fall, 69-62, at USF in American Conference Debut
December 28, 2014 | Women's Basketball
TAMPA, Fla. - The East Carolina women's basketball team suffered a 69-62 defeat in its American Athletic Conference debut at USF on Sunday afternoon at the Sun Dome.
Jada Payne and Jasmine Phillips each scored 14 points, while Abria Trice added 12. I'Tiana Taylor grabbed a game-high 14 rebounds and had three steals, as Janesha Ebron tallied six points, six boards and five assists. Ondrea Shaw blocked five shots and now has 144-career rejections, just five behind Monique Pompili for second on the school's all-time list.
East Carolina (9-3, 0-1 American) began the afternoon with five quick points on a layup by Shaw and a three by Payne in the first two minutes of play. Leading 7-6 with 13:39 remaining in the first half, the Pirates raced out on a 10-0 run, highlighted by back-to-back 3-pointers by Shae Nelson and DeVaughn Gray, to create their largest advantage of the half with 11:15 to go in the period.
Trailing by 11 with 10:43 left on the clock, USF (10-3, 1-0 American) got a handful of stops and got out onto a 14-3 scoring run to tie the game at 22-all at the 2:56 mark, before grabbing its first lead of the day just one minute late, 25-24, on a three by Courtney Williams. The Bulls outscored ECU, 7-2, in the final two minutes to take a 29-26 edge into halftime.
Defense was the name of the game through the first 20 minutes, as East Carolina shot 8-for-36 (.222) from the floor, 3-for-10 (.300) from beyond the arc and 7-for-12 (.583) from the free throw line, while USF shot just 6-for-20 (.300) from the field and 2-for-5 (.400) from 3-point land, but hit 15 of 19 free throws for a respectable 78.9-percent clip.
The two sides exchanged baskets for the first eight minutes of the second half, before a layup by Phillips with 11:43 remaining drew the score even at 40. From that point, the Bulls countered with a 9-2 run capped by Laura Ferreira layup at the 9:36 mark.
USF stretched its lead back to 11 points on four different occasions, the last with 4:14 to go after a layup by Alisia Jenkins made it 62-51. ECU made one last push after Phillips connected on a 3-pointer just six seconds later, as the Pirates chipped away at its deficit for the final four minutes of action.
Back-to-back layups by Ebron with 48 and 32 seconds remaining in the game sandwiched a big defensive stop to bring East Carolina within four points, 66-62, but the Bulls made three free throws to close out the game and preserve a seven-point victory.
ECU shot 20-for-72 (.278) overall, 5-for-17 (.294) from 3-point range and 17-for-28 (.607) at the foul stripe, while USF went 20-for-45 (.444) from the field, 5-for-10 (.500) from distance and 24-for-34 (.706) from the free throw line. The Pirates held a 26-24 edge in points in the paint, a 22-10 advantage in points off turnovers and outscored the opposition, 11-6, on second-chance shots.
The Bulls had five players score in double digits and were led by Jenkins' 12 points, 13 rebounds and eight blocks as well as Williams' game-high 18 points, seven boards and six assists.
East Carolina will return home to host second-ranked Connecticut in a New Year's Eve matinee Wednesday, Dec. 31 at 2:30 p.m. The game will be televised by SNY and can be viewed on ESPN and the WatchESPN app.
