East Carolina Looks for Win No. 20 at UAB
February 07, 2014 | Women's Basketball
Feb. 7, 2014
| Game 23: East Carolina at UAB | |
| Date | Saturday, February 8 |
| Time | 3:00 p.m. (ET) |
| Location | Birmingham, Ala. |
| Live Game Coverage | | Live Video |
| Game Notes | East Carolina  |
| 2013-14 Women's Basketball Statistics | East Carolina | UAB |
| ECU Women's Basketball Central | Gameday Central | Roster | Fact Book |
The Game
The East Carolina women's basketball team will head to Birmingham, Ala., for a Conference USA match up at UAB on Saturday, February 8, at 3 p.m. ET.
The Series
The Pirates and the Blazers will meet for the 25th time in program history. East Carolina leads the all-time series 14-10. Last season the conference foes split a pair of games as UAB defeated ECU, 62-58, in Birmingham, Ala., on February 10, 2013, before the Pirates held off the Blazers, 53-52, in Greenville, N.C., on February 28, 2013.
Last Time Out
East Carolina defeated Marshall, 66-52, as the Pirates collected their third straight victory behind three double-figure performances. Junior forward Shae Nelson led all scorers with a career-high 24 points, while junior guard Janesha Ebron tied her career-best with nine assists. In addition to Nelson's career-high effort, she also added six rebounds, two assists and a pair of steals. Other double-figure scorers included Abria Trice (14 points) and Jada Payne (11 points). Tatiana Chapple led the Pirates with seven rebounds, while Ondrea Shaw added a team-best three blocks, and Ebron contributed three boards and two blocks. As a team, East Carolina shot 40.6-percent from the field, while Marshall shot 32.7-percent. ECU held the edge in rebounds, 42-35, and also led the Thundering Herd in assists, 19-10. East Carolina forced Marshall into 23 turnovers and the Pirates tallied 22 points off of turnovers. After taking an early lead on back-to-back buckets from Chapple and Trice, East Carolina never looked back as the Pirates led throughout the contest. ECU led by as many as 25 points (64-39) in the game and went on to defeat Marshall, 66-52, handing the Thundering Herd their eighth straight loss as East Carolina won its sixth game in seven contests.
About the Pirates
East Carolina has won six of its last seven games and 11 of its last 13 to compile a 19-3 overall record and a 7-2 Conference USA ledger to rank second in league standings. The Pirates are currently undefeated at home with a 12-0 mark and have won 25 consecutive games at Minges Coliseum. ECU is a defensively strong team as the Pirates are leading the conference in field goal percent defense (35.1), three-point field goal percent defense (25.2), rebounding defense (35.6), blocked shots per game (5.3), and steals per game (11.1). The Pirates' steals per game average is good for ninth in the nation, while their three-point field goal percent defense ranks eighth. Offensively, East Carolina is shooting 42.1-percent to rank third in C-USA. The Pirates are averaging 73.5 points per game, while limiting their opponents to 59.9 for a scoring margin of +13.6 which ranks second in the league and 23rd in the NCAA. The Pirates are out-rebounding their counterparts 43.5 - 35.6 for a league-leading rebounding margin of +7.9 which also is good for 27th in the nation. Redshirt sophomore forward Jada Payne is the squad's leading scorer as she averages 19.9 points per game to rank fourth in C-USA and 32nd in the nation. She is tied for first on the team in rebounding with an average of 7.3 boards per contest. Payne's three-point field goal percentage of 41.2 leads Conference USA, while her free throw percentage of 85.8 is good for sixth. Redshirt junior guard Abria Trice is the Pirates' second leading scorer with 16.7 points per game to rank eighth in the league. Trice also adds 4.8 rebounds per game, a team-high 37 steals, 29 assists, and 14 blocks. Redshirt junior post Ondrea Shaw leads East Carolina with 69 blocks to rank second in the ECU single-season record book. Her average of 3.1 blocks per game leads the conference and ranks her 11th in the nation.
Scouting the Blazers
UAB is coming off of a 94-91 overtime victory at Florida Atlantic and the Blazers own a 12-9 overall record and are 4-4 in Conference USA. As a team, UAB is shooting 42.3-percent, while averaging 67.6 points per game. The Blazers average 4.8 blocked shots per game to rank second in the league, trailing only East Carolina. UAB leads the conference in defensive rebounds as the Blazers average 28.7 per game and their defensive rebounds percentage of 68.7 also sets the league standard. UAB averages 40.6 rebounds per game to go along with 12.8 assists per contest and 6.5 steals per game. The Blazers have three double-figure scorers in Karisma Chapman (19.4 points per game), Ashley Grimes (14.9 points per game), and Chelsee Black (14.4 points per game). Chapman's scoring average ranks her sixth in C-USA, while her team-leading 9.1 rebounds per game average is also good for sixth in the league. Additionally, Chapman contributes 35 steals, 58 assists and 20 blocks. Grimes averages 4.7 rebounds per contest to go along with a team-best 66 assists, a team-leading 42 steals, and 20 blocks. Black adds 4.5 boards per game, 63 assists, and 22 steals for the Blazers.
Home Sweet Home
Last season, ECU closed out the year with an impressive 14-1 record while playing at Minges Coliseum. After starting the 2013-14 season with a 12-0 record in Greenville, the Pirates have extended their home winning streak to 25 games. East Carolina has not lost a home match in more than a year as the last time the Pirates were defeated inside Minges Coliseum was on November 17, 2012 when they dropped a 72-62 decision to College of Charleston.
In the Nation
In the NCAA's weekly national statistical rankings East Carolina is ranked in the top 50 in eight categories. The Pirates are eighth in the nation in three-point field goal defense (25.7) and ninth in steals per game (11.1). Additionally, ECU ranks 18th in field goal percent defense (35.2) and 19th in blocked shots per game (5.3).
Getting Defensive
A defensively strong team, East Carolina has limited its opponents to 59.9 points per game, while averaging 73.5 points per game for a scoring margin of +13.6. The Pirates' scoring margin ranks second in the conference as does their scoring defense. The marks are also ranked 23rd and 45th in the NCAA, respectively. Additionally, the Pirates have collected 244 steals to average 11.1 per game to lead the league and rank ninth in the nation. ECU has also forced their counterparts into 441 turnovers to average 20.0 per game. The Pirates have put up 116 blocks to average 5.3 per game which leads the league and ranks 19th in the nation.
Pouring In The Points
The Pirates have a pair of double-figure scorers in redshirt sophomore forward Jada Payne and redshirt junior guard Abria Trice. Payne leads the Pirates with 19.9 points per game, while Trice averages 16.7. Their averages rank fourth and eighth, respectively, in the conference. As a team, ECU owns a scoring offense of 73.5 to rank fourth in the league, while the Pirates limit their opponents to 59.9 points per game for a scoring margin of +13.6, as both marks rank second in the conference and 45th and 23rd, respectively, in the nation.
Thanks For the Assistance
The Pirates have dished out 317 assists this season to average 14.4 per game which ranks fourth in Conference USA. Junior guard Janesha Ebron is the team-leader with 108 helpers on the year to average 4.9 per game which ranks her fifth in the conference. She also leads C-USA with an assist to turnover ratio of 2.2.
Cleaning Up The Glass
The Pirates have accumulated 957 rebounds to average 43.5 per game to rank second in Conference USA. In holding their opponents to 35.6 rebounds per game, the Pirates own a rebounding margin of +7.9 which leads C-USA and is good for 23rd in the nation. Redshirt sophomore forward Jada Payne and redshirt junior post Ondrea Shaw are tied for the team lead as the pair average 7.3 boards per game.
Pirates Plunder, Pillage, and Steal
Like their namesake, the Pirates are known for steals. ECU has grabbed 244 steals this season to average 11.1 per game which is tops in Conference USA and ranks ninth in the NCAA. The Pirates have forced their opponents into 20.0 turnovers per game and own a turnover margin of +1.1. Redshirt junior guard Abria Trice leads the Pirates with 37 steals to average 1.7 per game which ranks her 14th in the league.
Block Party
ECU has put up 116 blocks to average 5.3 per game which leads Conference USA statistics and is good for 19th in the nation. The Pirates have limited their opponents to 3.2 blocks per game on the year. Junior post Ondrea Shaw leads the team with 69 blocks for an average of 3.1 blocks per game which leads the conference and ranks her 11th in the NCAA. With 69 blocks, Shaw is ranked second in the ECU single-season record book.
ECU in C-USA
As a team, East Carolina ranks in the top five in 16 of 21 Conference USA statistical categories this season. ECU leads the league in eight categories. The Pirates lead the conference in field goal percent defense (35.1), three-point field goal percent defense (25.2), rebounding defense (35.6), rebounding margin (+7.9), blocked shots per game (5.3), steals per game (11.1), offensive rebounds per game (17.0), and offensive rebound percentage (43.7).
Pirates in C-USA
Four Pirates have found themselves ranked in the top 20 in Conference USA individual statistics this year. Redshirt junior post Ondrea Shaw leads the league in blocks per game with 3.1. She also ranks 13th in offensive rebounds per game (3.0), 14th in rebounds per game (7.3), and 15th in defensive rebounds per game (4.3). Junior guard Janesha Ebron leads the conference in assist to turnover ratio with a mark of 2.2. She also ranks fifth in assists per game as she averages 4.9. Redshirt sophomore forward Jada Payne leads C-USA in three-point field goal percent (41.2). She also ranks fourth in scoring (19.9 points per game), fourth in three-point field goals made (2.2), sixth in free throw percentage (85.8), 10th in offensive rebounds per game (3.1), and 12th in rebounding (7.3 boards per game). Redshirt junior guard Abria Trice ranks in four statistical categories as she is eighth in scoring (16.7 points per game), ninth in field goal percentage (49.6), 10th in free throw percentage (81.4), and 14th in steals per game (1.7).
C-USA Freshman of the Week
On Monday, December 16, freshman guard J'Kyra Brown earned her first-ever Conference USA Freshman of the Week honor for her performance at the ULM Warhawk Classic. Brown helped the Pirates to a 1-1 record and an appearance in the Warhawk Classic championship game after averaging 10.5 points per game, 2.5 rebounds per game, 1.0 assists per game, 0.5 steals per game, and 0.5 blocks per game. She finished the weekend shooting 53.8-percent from the field, 57.1-percent from beyond the arc, and was 3-for-3 from the free throw line. Brown poured in 18 points in the Pirates' 85-42 victory over Alcorn State last Friday to secure ECU's place in the championship contest. She earned the honors along with Takia Brooks of Florida Atlantic and Tamara Jones of Southern Miss who took home Co-Player of the Week accolades. Brown is the first Pirate to collect the award this season.
The "New" Conference USA
Conference USA was one of the many conferences that saw realignments over the summer. July 1, 2013 marked the addition of Charlotte, FIU, Florida Atlantic, LA Tech, Middle Tennessee, North Texas, Old Dominion, and UTSA to C-USA. While the conference expanded with the eight new member institutions, it also parted ways with Houston, Memphis, SMU and UCF as all four joined the American Athletic Conference. 2013 will mark the last year of ECU's affiliation with Conference USA as the Pirates will join the American Athletic Conference beginning next season.
Notables
• Senior post Ariana Jackson will be out for the season due to an injury.
Coming Up...
East Carolina will return home to the friendly confines of Williams Arena inside Minges Coliseum on Saturday, February 15, as the Pirates host North Texas at 5 p.m. The contest also marks Play 4 Kay as the Pirates will be wearing pink in support of breast cancer awareness. Live stats, video and audio will be available on ECUPirates.com.
