Pirates Host SMU in Search of Fifth Straight Win Wednesday
February 17, 2015 | Women's Basketball
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
GREENVILLE, N.C. - Coming off its biggest win of the season against previously 25th-ranked South Florida on Sunday, the East Carolina women's basketball team will attempt to match its longest winning streak of the season when it hosts SMU on Wednesday, Feb. 18, at 7 p.m., at Williams Arena in Minges Coliseum. The game will be broadcast by ESPN3 and available on the WatchESPN mobile app.
The Pirates topped the Mustangs, 67-49, in Dallas on Jan. 21 to take a 6-5 lead in the all-time series between the two programs and have won three of the last four meetings. In that victory, Heather Macy tallied her 200th triumph in the win column as a head coach.
East Carolina (17-8, 8-6 AAC) is currently on its third winning streak of at least four games this season and has won eight of its last 10 contests. Redshirt junior Jada Payne is averaging a team-high 16.9 points overall and 15.5 in American Athletic Conference bouts this season, and is coming off her eighth 20-point performance of the season in the win over USF on Sunday. Redshirt senior Abria Trice is scoring 10.9 points in league games, while junior forward I'Tiana Taylor is totaling a double-double with 10 points and 10.2 rebounds. Junior Jasmine Phillips and senior Shae Nelson are scoring north of eight points per contest off the bench, respectively.
SMU (5-19, 1-12 AAC) has just two wins since Dec. 3, its last coming in a conference game at UCF, 70-60, on Feb. 7. The Mustangs are led by Alicia Froling's 13.2 points and seven rebounds in league contests, while Destynee Hives-McCray is scoring 9.5 points and pulling down a team-best 7.6 boards. The Ponies are being outscored by an average of 19.4 points in The American and shooting just 32.5 percent from the field.
PAYNE ON VERGE OF GRAND HISTORY
Jada Payne has scored 991 points in just 56-career games at East Carolina, and with nine more, will become just the 22nd player in program history to eclipse 1,000 in an ECU uniform. Allison Spivey (2007-11) was the last to break the threshold and ranks 20th all-time with 1,043.
A PROGRAM-DEFINING VICTORY
East Carolina defeated No. 25 South Florida, 65-64, on February 15 to snap the Bulls' six-game winning streak in its annual Play4Kay pink game, marking its first victory over an opponent ranked in the Associated Press' top 25 poll since taking down No. 24 North Carolina State, 89-82, on Dec. 9, 2007. Ironically, that NC State team was coached by the late Kay Yow.
FEELING AT HOME AWAY FROM HOME
The Pirates have played just 10 of its first 25 games at home this season, but own a 10-5 overall record in games played away from Minges Coliseum. Eight of its first 13 American Athletic Conference contests were played on the road where they posted a 5-3 mark. ECU possesses a 7-3 mark within its friendly confines this year and a 35-5 ledger dating back to the start of the 2012-13 campaign.
THE TRICE FACTOR
Redshirt senior Abria Trice has scored at least 16 points in each game on ECU's four-game winning streak, including a season-high 23 points on nine made field goals to down Cincinnati on Feb. 10. She has also been a primary go-to option, scoring the Pirates' last two baskets in the final minute of the 67-63 triumph over the Green Wave on Jan. 31. During the span, Trice is also shooting 21-for-22 (.954) at the free throw line.
WINNING AGAINST THE GRAIN
The Pirates claimed a 78-53 win at Cincinnati on Feb. 10 despite trailing at halftime, losing the turnover battle and allowing the opposition to make more than five shots from three-point range. The victory was ECU's first when trailing at halftime in seven total occurrences this season and entered the night just 3-6 when having more turnovers and 3-5 when allowing five or more threes.
NELSON NETTING BIG SHOTS
Senior forward Shae Nelson hit big shots at a high percentage in the first three of East Carolina's four-straight conference wins over Tulane, Houston and Cincinnati. The Cordova, Tenn., native shot 45.5 percent (15-for-33) overall from the field and 50 percent (11-for-22) from three-point range to boost her 15.7 points per game during that span. She knocked down a pair of threes inside the final four minutes, the second a go-ahead conversion to cap off a 14-2 scoring run, in ECU's 67-63 comeback triumph over the Green Wave on Jan. 31. Nelson then scored a game-high 18 points against the Cougars on Feb. 3 before dropping 16 points at Cincinnati on Feb. 10 and shot 4-for-7 from beyond the arc in each game, respectively.
A COMEBACK TO REMEMBER
Trailing 57-47 with 5:50 left on the clock, ECU ended the game with a 20-6 scoring run and earned a 67-63 comeback victory at Tulane on Jan. 31. The Pirates shot 6-for-7 overall, including 4-for-5 beyond the arc as both Jada Payne and Shae Nelson combined to hit four-consecutive triples, and 4-for-5 at the free throw line during that span to hand the Green Wave just its fifth loss in 21 games.
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, and with five more dimes in the win at SMU on Jan. 21, became the 10th player to record 300 in a career. With five helpers in the win over No. 25 USF on Feb. 15, Ebron moved into sole possession of ninth place all-time.
PAYNE BRINGS THE RAIN
Jada Payne broke ECU's single-season record for three-pointers made with 70 in 2013-14 and is just eight away from breaking that mark this season. With three triples at Cleveland State on Dec. 4, she moved into eighth place on the program's all-time list, and after making four more in the win at Loyola Maryland on Dec. 9, Payne became the eighth player in program history to make 100 shots from beyond the arc in her career. She made one triple against No. 2 UConn on Dec. 31 to move into seventh place.
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 21.5 turnovers per game and have generated 20 or more in 14 of 25 contests overall.
