East Carolina University
6-2
Cleveland State
4-3
Pirate Women's Basketball Falls at Cleveland State, 59-57
December 04, 2014 | Women's Basketball
CLEVELAND - The East Carolina women's basketball team suffered its second loss of the season, 59-57, at Cleveland State on Thursday night at the Wolstein Center.
Redshirt junior guard/forward Jada Payne scored 21 points and shot 9-for-18 from the field and 3-for-6 from beyond the arc to lead the Pirates. Junior guard Jasmine Phillips scored 14 points with five rebounds and six steals, while senior post player Ondrea Shaw recorded her first double-digit rebounding effort with 10 boards and three blocks on the night.
Cori Coleman led Cleveland State (4-3) with 21 points and eight rebounds, while Imani Gordon added 15 points, seven boards and four assists.
Payne scored East Carolina's (6-2) first five points, as redshirt senior Abria Trice knocked down a pair of jump shots on back-to-back possessions, to give ECU an early 9-3 advantage just over five minutes into the game.
Leading 13-12, the Pirates used a 9-0 run to the 6:26 mark to generate their first double-digit lead of the night, capped by a jumper and free throw by junior point guard Khadijah Ellison. Payne hit her third 3-pointer of the first half with 3:39 remaining to create ECU's largest lead of the half at 28-16.
The Vikings countered with an 8-0 run comprising four free throws and a layup by Imani Gordon with 1:28 to go to cut their deficit to just four, but Trice broke the momentum with a jumper on East Carolina's next possession as the Pirates took a 30-24 lead into the intermission.
ECU shot 13-for-33 (.394) from the field and 3-for-7 (.429) from three and outrebounded the opposition, 29-18, in the first half. Cleveland State shot just 7-for-26 (.269) overall, 1-for-6 (.167) from beyond the arc and 9-for-20 (.450) from the free throw line in the period.
The Vikings claimed their second lead of the night, 48-47, on a free throw by Alexis Eckles with 6:20 left in the game. Cleveland State continued to push forward and grew aggressive on the boards to build its largest lead of the night at seven points, 56-49, with 4:14 to go.
East Carolina turned up its defensive pressure down the final stretch and chipped away at its deficit, forcing the Vikings into a handful of turnovers. A layup by Payne with 1:27 left brought the Pirates within one point, 58-57, and after a pair of defensive stops, held possession with 25.7 seconds remaining in regulation after head coach Heather Macy called a timeout to draw up a play. Trice shot a running jumper with under 10 seconds to go, but it bounced off the rim and was rebounded by Cleveland State.
Gordon hit the back end of a pair of free throws with 6.1 seconds remaining, which gave ECU one last chance. Following the inbounds, Payne got across half court and got off a deep three from about 25 feet that fell short as time expired.
Cleveland State shot 13-for-27 (.481) from the field and 4-for-9 (.444) from the 3-point line in the second half, while the Pirates shot 11-for-32 (.344) from the floor, 0-for-4 from beyond the arc and just 5-for-15 (.333) from the foul line.
ECU outscored the Vikings, 36-26, in the paint, 16-14 off turnovers and 14-5 off the bench, but finished the night just 6-for-18 (.333) from the free throw line in the two-point loss.
East Carolina will make a short trip south to Athens, Ohio to face Ohio University (6-0) on Saturday, Dec. 6 at 7 p.m.
