East Carolina University
8-2
Loyola Maryland
1-7
Pirate Women's Basketball Storms Past Loyola, 82-33
December 09, 2014 | Women's Basketball
BALTIMORE - Senior post player Ondrea Shaw blocked a career-high 10 shots and redshirt junior guard Jada Payne tied her season high with 24 points as the East Carolina women's basketball team defeated Loyola (Md.), 82-33, for its largest margin of victory in its final non-conference road game Tuesday night at Reitz Arena.
East Carolina (8-2) blocked 15 shots as a team, tying the school record set back on Jan. 18, 1975 against Elon. Shaw became just the second player in program history to post double-digit blocks and surpassed her previous best of seven swats she last recorded Nov. 15 at Rhode Island.
Payne shot 8-for-10 overall and 4-for-5 from 3-point range. Payne becomes just the eighth player in program history to make 100-career threes. Junior forward I'Tiana Taylor shot 8-for-12 on her way to scoring 16 points and grabbing six rebounds, while senior point guard Akia Jones dished out a career-high four assists on the evening.
Shaw blocked five shots in the first five minutes and the Greyhounds struggled to get to the basket or find opening passing lanes due to the ECU's stingy defense. ECU opened up its first double-digit lead of the night, 17-7, at the first media timeout, while Loyola (1-7) shot just 1-for-12 from the field to that point.
The Pirates continued to pressure the Greyhounds while forcing them into difficult shots and 13 first-half turnovers. Shaw blocked two more shots before the end of the period to tie her career high in just 11 minutes of court time, Payne scored 17 points on 6-for-7 shooting and ECU scored a season-high 47 points in the half, while Loyola scored just 14.
East Carolina shot 18-for-32 (.563) from the floor, 5-for-10 (.500) from three in the first half, while Loyola made just three field goals and shot 10.3 percent, but made 8-of-11 (.615) free throws.
It took ECU a little over two minutes to score its first basket of the second half on a jumper by junior Abria Trice, but the Greyhounds punched back with a 7-0 run to bring their deficit under 30 with the score 52-24 and 14:12 remaining in the game.
Loyola would not draw any closer for the duration of the game, as the Pirates raced out on a 14-0 scoring run to the 8:54 mark and began to clear the bench as they held on for the 49-point triumph.
ECU made more than 30 field goals for the third time this season and shot 33-for-59 for a season-high 55.9-percent clip from the floor, while hitting 7-of-15 (.467) from beyond the arc. The defense was equally impressive, holding the opposition to a season-low 18.9 percent from the field on 10-for-53 shooting, 0-for-12 from 3-point range and 13-for-25 (.520) from the free throw line.
The Pirates outscored the Greyhounds 50-12 in the paint, 26-12 off turnovers, 12-2 on fast break buckets and 34-4 off the bench.
East Carolina will have a 10-day hiatus between games, but will return to the court Saturday, Dec. 20 when it hosts Norfolk State. Opening tip is set for 5 p.m., in Williams Arena at Minges Coliseum.
