East Carolina University
13-7 (4-5AAC)
Tulsa
9-10 (4-4AAC)
Pirate Women's Basketball Falls to Tulsa, 74-63
January 24, 2015 | Women's Basketball
Box Score | Photo Gallery 
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Game Highlights
GREENVILLE, N.C. - Junior forward I'Tiana Taylor recorded her second double-double in a row with 20 points and 18 rebounds, but the East Carolina women's basketball team was unable to hold off a second-half flurry and suffered a 74-63 American Athletic Conference loss to Tulsa on Saturday afternoon at Williams Arena in Minges Coliseum.
Taylor made nine of a season-high 20 shot attempts while seven of her rebounds were on the offensive glass, as she recorded her sixth double-double of the season and fourth in conference play. Juniors Jada Payne and Jasmine Payne also reached double figures with 10 points apiece, while Janesha Ebron compiled six points, six rebounds and matched her season high with eight assists to round out East Carolina's (13-7, 4-5 AAC) top performances.
Ashley Clark led the Golden Hurricane with 23 points on 9-for-17 shooting and six rebounds, while Mariah Turner poured in 19 points and Kadan Brady and Teanna Reid contributed 11 points, respectively.
"The second half is about how we shoot it," head coach Heather Macy said. "We just didn't get to the free throw line as much and turned the ball over, thus you see we shot the ball one less time than they did. Typically, we shoot it ten to fifteen more times than our opponents so that was different, and giving up ten offensive boards, putting them to the line twenty-seven times was not our best day."
Tulsa (9-10, 4-4 AAC) took a 6-2 lead from the opening tip, but the Pirates responded quickly with a 17-2 scoring run, capped by sparked by five points from Shae Nelson that created a 19-8 lead with 8:46 left in the first half.
The Pirates' advantage on the scoreboard bounced back-and-forth between single double digits for the remainder of the period, as the Golden Hurricane drew as close as seven points with 6:42 to go, but East Carolina was able to increase its lead to as many as 13 after a layup by Taylor made it 33-20 with 2:50 on the clock and held on to take a 35-25 edge into the intermission.
ECU shot an impressive 15-for-26 (.571) from the field, 1-for-3 (.333) from beyond the arc and 4-for-5 (.800) at the free throw line in the first half. Tulsa went 9-for-25 (.360) from the floor, 3-for-10 (.300) at three-point range and 4-for-8 (.500) on the foul stripe.
The Golden Hurricane rushed out on a 10-0 run to start the second half that erased East Carolina's 10-point halftime advantage, and extended it to a 13-2 swing that forced the first lead change since the 13:51 mark of the opening period.
Tulsa continued to force the ball into the painted area and built a 49-41 lead with 13:14 remaining in the game, but four different Pirates scored one bucket apiece while Ebron knocked down a pair of free throws to generate a 10-0 run capped by a Phillips layup that put the home team back in front, 51-49, with 8:38 to play.
That two-point lead would be ECU's last of the day however, as the Golden Hurricane put the score back in its favor after a three by Brady on its next possession.
Tulsa's advantage grew to 10 points with the score 63-53 and 3:59 remaining, but East Carolina was able to draw within two times with the final occurrence coming at 66-61 with 1:57 left on the game clock. The Golden Hurricane closed out the game with an 8-2 run to pull away in the 11-point comeback win.
ECU shot 26-for-55 (.473) overall on the day, 1-for-9 (.111) from three-point range and 10-for-14 (.714) at the free throw stripe, while Tulsa finished 25-for-56 (.446) from the field, 7-for-16 (.438) from deep and 17-for-27 (.630) at the foul line.
The Pirates owned a 42-33 advantage in scoring in the paint, but were outscored, 21-13, off turnovers and 23-17 off the bench.
"It's going to be a tough week. It's going to be huge challenges for us," Macy said. "Ultimately, as we won those games consecutively, we won because we were great defensively. "Sometimes, as you're winning, you forget what you're really good at and what we're good at is really hard, but it's very controllable and we have to do a better job of every single practice continuing to build, continuing to grow, and put defensive stretches together a little bit better."
East Carolina will head to the XL Center in Hartford, Conn., on Wednesday, Jan. 28 where it will take on No. 2 Connecticut (17-1, 7-0 AAC) for the second time this season. Opening tip is scheduled for 7 p.m., and the game will be broadcast on SportsNet New York (SNY) and ESPN3.
