East Carolina Shoots For Seventh Straight Win at Temple
February 27, 2015 | Women's Basketball
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GREENVILLE, N.C. - Riding a season-best six-game winning streak and victors in 10 of its last 12, the East Carolina women's basketball team will play its final road game of the season when it heads to Philadelphia to face Temple in American Athletic Conference action on Saturday, Feb. 28. Opening tip is scheduled for 2 p.m., at McGonigle Hall and the game will be broadcast on ESPN3.
The Pirates and Owls have never met in history, but the result of Saturday's matchup will have an immense impact on the conference standings. With just two games left in the regular season, both teams are vying for the opportunity to claim the No. 3 overall seed in next week's American Athletic Conference tournament in Uncasville, Conn. Four teams - ECU, Temple, Tulane and Tulsa - have the ability to earn the third seed, but the purple and gold controls its own destiny and can lock it down with wins over Temple and UCF.
Currently on a seven-day hiatus between games, East Carolina (19-8, 10-6 AAC) is playing perhaps its best basketball of the season, outscoring opponents by more than 13 points per contest over its last six. The Pirates are shooting 42 percent as a team, own a +5.8 turnover margin and are grabbing 12.5 steals per game during that span. Redshirt junior Jada Payne is averaging 17 points and just over 32 minutes of court time this season, while I'Tiana Taylor ranks second on the squad in scoring with 10.7 points and leads all ECU players with 9.2 rebounds. Redshirt senior Abria Trice is putting up 10.6 points and 4.5 rebounds through 16 league games this year.
Temple (14-15, 10-6 AAC) has won three of its last four games and is coming off a 55-39 road victory at SMU on Wednesday night. The Owls have five players averaging double-figure points this season, led by freshman Alliya Butts' 12.8, Feyonda Fitzgerald's 11.1 and Erica Covile's 11 points and team-leading 8.4 rebounds per game. Tanaya Atkinson is averaging 10.4 points and seven boards per contest, while Tyonna Williams is scoring 10 points and tops the squad with 3.2 assists. As a team, Temple is shooting 36.5 percent from the floor, an impressive 71.5 percent at the free throw line and commits just 14.3 turnovers per game.
ON THE CUSP: THREE-STRAIGHT 20-WIN SEASONS
East Carolina is just one victory away from recording its 20th of the season, which would mark the first time in program history the Pirates have reached the 20-win plateau in three-straight seasons. ECU has posted 22 wins in back-to-back seasons after going 22-10 in 2012-13 and 22-9 in 2013-14.
FEBRUARY PERFECTION
ECU owns an unblemished 5-0 mark in February and has just one game remaining during the month. The Pirates have recorded an unbeaten February just three times in program history, the last coming in 1992 when they went 8-0. The first two occurrences were in 1986 (8-0) and 1973 (7-0). Overall, ECU has achieved a perfect record just five times during a calendar month comprising at least six games, the others bring November 2009 and 2013 (6-0).
TURNING UP THE DEFENSE
The Pirates completed a season sweep of Cincinnati with a 53-40 home victory on Feb. 21, but their defense had one of its best performances of the season. East Carolina committed a season-low 12 turnovers and surrendered just four offensive rebounds, resulting in just 40 shots attempted by the Bearcats, as those two totals were the fewest recorded by an ECU opponent this season.
FEELING HOME AWAY FROM HOME
The Pirates have played just 12 of its 27 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 9-3 mark within its friendly confines this year and a 37-5 ledger dating back to the start of the 2012-13 campaign.
PRESSURING THE ROCK & PICKING POCKETS
Defensively, ECU has used its pressure to create turnovers and transition offense. East Carolina has forced opponents into an average of 21.9 turnovers per game and has generated 20 or more in 16 of 27 contests overall. As of Tuesday, Feb. 24, the Pirates rank fifth among NCAA Division I teams with an average of 11.9 steals per game. They totaled a season-best 24 heists against SMU on Feb. 18.
PAYNE ECLIPSES 1,000 POINTS
Redshirt junior wing player Jada Payne scored her 1,000th point in just her 57th-career game at East Carolina to become just the 22nd player in program history to break the milestone in the 67-53 win over SMU on Feb. 18. Allison Spivey (2007-11) was the last to break the threshold and ranks 20th all-time with 1,043.
PAYNE BRINGS THE RAIN
Jada Payne broke ECU's single-season record for three-pointers made with 70 in 2013-14 and is just six away from breaking her own record 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.
THE TRICE FACTOR
Redshirt senior Abria Trice has scored in double digits in five of ECU's six-straight wins, 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 averaging 14.7 points and shooting nearly 50 percent from the field.
