East Carolina Seeks Fourth Straight Win at SMU Wednesday
January 20, 2015 | Women's Basketball
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GREENVILLE, N.C. - East Carolina will travel to SMU in search of its fourth straight victory on Wednesday, Jan. 21 at Moody Coliseum. Opening tip is scheduled for 8 p.m. (EST) and the game will be broadcast by ESPN3.
The Pirates and Mustangs are locked in a 5-5 tie in the all-time series, as the Pirates have won two of the last three meetings, including the most recent one, 63-47, on Feb. 14, 2013 in Greenville when both programs were members of Conference USA. ECU's last road win in Dallas came in a 70-58 triumph in the month of February during the 2006-07 campaign.
Head coach Heather Macy, in her fifth season at the helm of the program and 10th overall as a head coach enters the game just one win shy of the 200th in her career and holds a 199-98 (.670) mark.
East Carolina (12-6, 3-4 AAC) will play its third road contest in its last four games after collecting league victories at Houston and Tulsa Jan. 10 and 14. Redshirt junior Jada Payne is averaging 21.7 points per game during the Pirates' three-game winning streak, as junior forward I'Tiana Taylor is posting 9.1 points and 11.6 rebounds through seven conference games this season. Senior point guard Janesha Ebron ranks third in The American with 4.4 assists and has led the team in dimes in 14 of 18 contests on the year.
SMU (4-13, 0-6 AAC) is in the midst of a 10-game losing streak and owns a 4-5 record on its home court. The Mustangs' leading scorer, Alicia Froling, is averaging 11.6 points and also contributes on the defensive end with a team-best 1.9 blocks per game. Destynee Hives-McCray also averages double-figure points with 10.6 per game and is the Ponies' leading rebounder with 7.9 per contest.
KEYS TO VICTORY
East Carolina's win probability increases immensely when several factors go its way. The Pirates are 12-1 overall and 3-0 in league games when leading at halftime, 12-2 when scoring at least 60 points, 10-1 when making five or more three-pointers and 10-2 when it commits fewer turnovers than the opposition.
EBRON CLIMBING ALL-TIME ASSISTS LIST
Senior point guard Janesha Ebron cracked the top 10 of the program's all-time assists list with five in the win at Tulsa on Jan. 14. She passed Delphine Mabry (1982-87) who had 291 for her career.
all over the O-boards
East Carolina has pulled down 20 or more offensive rebounds in eight games this season and in four of its last eight heading into Wednesday's contest. The Pirates currently rank 12th among all NCAA Division I programs with an average of 18 offensive boards per game.
PICKING POCKETS
The Pirates enter the week beginning Monday, Jan. 19 ranked eighth among NCAA Division I teams with an average of 12 steals per game. They totaled 21 steals in the season-opening win over Fairfield, and have recorded 12 or more in 10 of 18 games this season.
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 turnovers per game and have generated 20 or more in six of the last nine contests and 12 of 18 overall.
TOP SWAT TEAM
ECU currently sits in seventh place for the most blocks per game (6.7) 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.
