East Carolina Seeks Redemption Against Memphis Sunday
January 17, 2015 | Women's Basketball
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GREENVILLE, N.C.- Winners of two-straight games, the East Carolina women's basketball team will host Memphis in its seventh American Athletic Conference matchup Sunday, Jan. 18, with opening tip scheduled for 2 p.m., at Williams Arena in Minges Coliseum.
The game will be the second between the two rivals, as the Pirates look to atone a 60-57 overtime road loss to the Tigers just 14 days prior. ECU is 7-3 all-time at home against Memphis, with the last victory coming March 3, 2013 in a 69-52 triumph.
East Carolina (11-6, 2-4 AAC) is coming off a pair of conference road wins at Houston and Tulsa, and returns home for the second of just three home games during the month of January. The Pirates are led by redshirt junior wing Jada Payne's 17.5 points and 5.8 rebounds per game, while she is averaging 15.5 points through the first six league contests. Junior forward I'Tiana Taylor is nearly producing a double-double on average with 10.9 points and 9.9 rebounds per game, including 9.7 points and 12.3 boards in conference matchups.
Memphis (9-8, 3-3 AAC) is coming off a 41-38 home victory over Cincinnati on Wednesday night and has won three of its last four. Junior guard Ariel Hearn leads the Tigers with 15.4 points and 3.1 assists per game, while forward Brianna Wright is averaging eight points and 9.5 rebounds. Memphis is 2-5 overall in road games and 1-2 away from home in conference play this season.
COUNTDOWN TO 200
Head coach Heather Macy, in her 10th season as a head coach and fifth at ECU, entered the season with 187 career wins and is now just two victories away from 200 for her career.
EBRON CLIMBING ALL-TIME ASSISTS LIST
Senior point guard Janesha Ebron cracked the top 10 of the program's all-time assists list in the win at Tulsa on Jan. 14. Entering the game with 288 in her career, Ebron handed out five dimes, surpassing Delphine Mabry (1982-87) for tenth place at 291. She is now just 33 behind Justin Allpress (1993-97) for ninth place.
A PAIR OF RARE HOME DEFEATS
East Carolina, which posted 32-2 home record between 2012 and 2014, suffered back-to-back home losses to No. 2 Connecticut and Tulane in its first two American Athletic Conference league games, marking the first time since the 2011-12 season that the visitors left Minges Coliseum with consecutive victories.
PICKING POCKETS
The Pirates enter the week beginning Monday, Jan. 12 ranked fifth among NCAA Division I teams with an average of 12.6 steals per game. They totaled 21 steals in the season-opening win over Fairfield, and have recorded 12 or more in 10 of 16 games this season.
TOP SWAT TEAM
ECU currently sits in fifth place for the most blocks per game (6.8) among NCAA Division I teams. East Carolina rejected 10 or more shots in three-straight games in December, a streak that began with 15 blocked shots in the 82-33 win at Loyola Maryland on Dec. 9, and matched the program record initially set on Jan. 18, 1975 against Elon.
all over the 0-boards
East Carolina has pulled down 20 or more offensive rebounds in eight games this season and in four of its last seven heading into Sunday's contest. The Pirates currently rank ninth among all NCAA Division I programs with and average of 18 offensive boards per game.
PRESSURING THE ROCK
Defensively, ECU has used its defensive pressure on the ball to create turnovers and transition runs. East Carolina has forced opponents into an average of 23.1 turnovers per game and have generated 20 or more in five of the last eight contests and 11 of 17 overall.
