East Carolina University
21-10
No. 1/1 UConn
31-1
East Carolina Falls to No. 1 UConn in American Semifinals
March 08, 2015 | Women's Basketball
Postgame Quotes|Postgame Notes
Box Score| Box Score
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UNCASVILLE, Conn. - The East Carolina women's basketball team's run through the 2015 American Athletic Conference Championship came to an end in a 106-56 loss to top-ranked UConn in the semifinals Sunday evening at Mohegan Sun Arena.
Junior forward I'Tiana Taylor led the Pirates with 17 points on 6-for-11 shooting, junior wing Jada Payne scored 15 points and grabbed a team-high seven rebounds, while senior Abria Trice added 11 points and three steals.
The Huskies placed five in double-figures, led by Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis' 21 points and Moriah Jefferson's 20 points, six assists and five steals. Breanna Stewart added 16 points, nine rebounds and five blocks, while Morgan Tuck chipped in 15 points.
East Carolina (21-10, 11-7 AAC) kept the game close through the first three-and-a-half minutes after a Payne jumper cut the UConn (31-1, 18-0 AAC) deficit in half, 8-4, with 16:36 to play. The Huskies turned their offense into high gear from that point forward however, ripping off a 35-5 run over the subsequent 10 minutes of play.
The Pirates were able to knock down a handful of shots down the stretch in the opening period, but Connecticut continued to push the ball before taking a 62-22 advantage into halftime.
ECU shot 8-for-26 (.308) from the field, 2-4 (.500) from three-point range and 4-for-6 (.667) at the free throw line in the first half, while UConn went 24-for-31 (.774) from the floor, 6-for-10 (.600) beyond the arc and 8-for-12 (.667) at the charity stripe.
East Carolina looked like a different team from the moment the second half began, shooting with confidence and making numerous defensive stands, en route to outscoring the Huskies, 23-17, to the 12:29 mark after a layup by Taylor cut the deficit to 34 at 79-45.
UConn got back into its rhythm for the remainder of the game however, increasing its lead by 11 more over the ensuring five minutes of action, before extending the advantage to 50 points with its final bucket of the night with 2:42 remaining.
Head coach Heather Macy thought her team played much better in the second half, when they were only outscored 44-34.
''The kids responded and they understood that it was going to be about getting better during that 20 minutes, versus just run up and down and playing pick-up, and that's what I felt we did in that first half, played a lot of pick-up.''
The loss snapped a streak of 293-straight contests that ECU had not allowed an opponent to score 90 or more points in a game decided in regulation, the last coming in a 105-70 defeat at DePaul on Feb. 16, 2003.
The Pirates shot 21-for-61 (.344) overall, 6-for-21 (.286) from three and 8-for-13 (.615) at the foul line on the evening, while the Huskies went 39-for-59 (.661) from the field, 7-for-15 (.467) from deep and 21-for-29 (.724) at the free throw stripe.
