ECU Women's Basketball Hosts Tulane Wednesday on ESPN3
January 06, 2015 | Women's Basketball
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GREENVILLE, N.C.- The East Carolina women's basketball team will host Tulane for the 14th-straight season, but for the first time as American Athletic Conference foes on Wednesday, Jan. 7 in Williams Arena at Minges Coliseum. Opening tip is scheduled for 7 p.m., and the game will be available on ESPN3.
The Green Wave owns a 12-5 advantage in the all-time series, but he Pirates have won each of the last two meetings, including a 69-65 road win last season in New Orleans.
East Carolina (9-5, 0-3 American) is led by redshirt junior Jada Payne's 17.4 points and 6.3 rebounds per game, while junior forward I'Tiana Taylor is averaging 10.7 points and a team-high 9.5 rebounds. Payne has scored in double figures in all but one game this season, while Taylor is coming off her third double-double of the season, an 11-point, 15-board performance at Memphis on Sunday afternoon. Through three conference games, Taylor is putting up 7.3 points, 11 rebounds, 3.7 steals and one block per contest.
Tulane (11-3, 2-1 American) enters Wednesday's matchup after suffering its first conference defeat of the season, 53-40, at home against USF. The Green Wave ranks 34th nationally in field goal percentage defense, allowing just 34.9-percent of shots to fall, while the Pirates currently stand 38th at 35 percent. Tulane is also second in the league and 45th in the country in turnover margin at 4.14. The team is led by freshman guard Kolby Morgan's 12.1 points per game, while senior forward Tiffany Dale tops all American Athletic Conference players with a 57.7-percent (45-for-78) field goal percentage.
KEY MATCHUPS TO WATCH
One of the key individual matchups on the floor will be at point guard, where ECU senior Janesha Ebron faces off against Jamie Kaplan. Ebron ranks third in the conference with 4.3 assists per game, just ahead of Kaplan's 4.0. Ebron and Kaplan are just decimals apart with 1.5 assist-to-turnover ratios which rank fourth and fifth in the league, respectively.
I'Tiana Taylor and Tiffany Dale are two of the best offensive rebounders in The American, as Taylor ranks second with four per contest, while Dale is tied for sixth with 3.4. Points in the paint will be important for both squads, as Taylor and Dale are two of the best in the league at finishing on second chance baskets.
all over the O-boards
East Carolina has pulled down 20 or more offensive rebounds in seven of its first 14 games this season and in three of its last four heading into Wednesday's contest. The Pirates currently rank 12th among all NCAA Division I programs with 18 offensive boards per game.
PRESSURING THE ROCK
Defensively, ECU has used its intense pressure on the ball to reduce the opposition's number of possessions. East Carolina has forced opponents into an average of 24 turnovers per game and have generated 20 or more in each of its last five contests and 11 of 14 overall.
TOP SWAT TEAM
ECU currently sits in second place for the most blocks per game (7.3) in NCAA Division I, trailing only Duke (7.4). 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. The Pirates followed up that performance with 10 swats in a 65-36 home win over Norfolk State on Dec. 20, before turning aside 10 more in its first conference game of the season at USF eight days later.
PICKING POCKETS
The Pirates enter the week beginning Monday, Jan. 5 ranked fifth among NCAA Division I teams with an average of 13.4 steals per game. They totaled 21 steals in the season-opening win over Fairfield, and have recorded 12 or more in 10 of 14 games this season.
POINTS come at PREMIUM ON PIRATE DEFENSE
East Carolina ranks 38th in the country in scoring defense and field goal percentage defense, surrendering just 56.4 points per game and allowing just 35 percent of shots to fall. Only UConn (89) has eclipsed the 70-point barrier against ECU this season.
AN ELITE SHOT-BLOCKER
Senior post player Ondrea Shaw currently stands 12th among all NCAA Division I players with an average of 3.3 blocks per game. Shaw has rejected five or more shots on four different occasions this season. The Los Angeles, Calif., native finished the 2013-14 campaign ninth in the nation with 3.3 blocks per contest.
DANGEROUS FROM DEEP
Preseason All-American Athletic Conference selection Jada Payne is shooting 37-for-81 from three-point range, while her 45.7 percent conversion rate ranks 22nd among all NCAA Division I players. The Hickory, N.C., native has made multiple shots from beyond the arc in all but one game 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 four victories away from 200 for her career.
