Gameday: East Carolina Set For Three Games At Savannah Invitational

Tuesday, November 22

Savannah, Ga

2 PM

East Carolina University

Marist

Gameday: East Carolina Set For Three Games At Savannah Invitational

November 21, 2016 | Women's Basketball

Games 5-7: Savannah Invitational
Tournament Dates	Nov. 22-24, 2016
Schedule	Nov. 22: vs. Marist (2:00 p.m.) \| Nov. 23: vs. No. 21 West Virginia (4:30 p.m.) \| Nov. 24: vs. Ball State (4:30 p.m.)
Location	Savannah, Ga. (MLK Arena at the Savannah Civic Center)
Coverage	WZMB Radio \| East Carolina Game Notes (PDF)
Social Media	Twitter: @ECUScoreboard \\\ @ECUWomensHoops

GREENVILLE, N.C. – Looking to bounce back from its first setback of the season, the East Carolina women's basketball team heads south for three games this week at the Savannah Invitational.

The Pirates will take on Marist Tuesday (2 p.m.), No. 21 West Virginia Wednesday (4:30 p.m.) and Ball State Thursday (4:30 p.m.).

ECU put up a fight against Auburn Sunday afternoon at Minges Coliseum, but fell short to the Tigers by a 61-52 margin. Auburn is receiving votes in the latest AP and Coaches Top 25 polls. Redshirt senior forward Bre McDonald tallied a team-best 16 points on 6-for-11 shooting to go along with five rebounds and two assists while redshirt senior guard Khadidja Toure racked up eight points, five rebounds, five assists, two blocks and two steals.

AGAINST THE TOURNAMENT FIELD
The Pirates are 2-4 against their Savannah Invitational opponents. East Carolina has met Marist just once in program history, dropping a close 62-58 decision to the Red Foxes at the FIU Sun and Fun Invitational in Miami, Fla. back on Dec. 29, 2008. The Pirates are 2-2 against West Virginia all-time, but the Mountaineers won the previous encounter 76-54 Dec. 21, 2004 in Greenville. As for Ball State, the Cardinals took the only meeting with ECU by an 87-78 margin Nov. 29, 2003 in the Lady Pirate Invitational at Minges Coliseum.

SAVANNAH INVITATIONAL CONNECTIONS
McDonald spent the 2013-14 campaign as a member of the West Virginia women's basketball program ... Ball State head coach Bradee Sallee was an assistant coach for East Carolina from 2002-03.

MACY ASCENDING ON ECU ALL-TIME COACHING WINS LIST
Heather Macy is now tied with Catherine Bolton (1969-78) for the second-most wins by a head coach in program history. With 17 more victories, she will surpass Sharon Baldwin-Tener (2002-10), who tops the list with 126.

GAFFNEY WILL REMEMBER THE TITANS
Graduate forward Kristen Gaffney had a career day in just her second game as a Pirate by scoring 32 points on 15-for-23 shooting to go along with eight rebounds in an 83-81 (OT) win over the Detroit-Mercy Titans on Nov. 13. Her scoring (32), field goals made (15) and shot attempts (23) all marked personal bests.

BANNISTER FINDS THE CANNISTER
Redshirt senior Antoinette Bannister has made 13 three-pointers in her first four games at ECU. She started off a perfect 6-for-6 against Greensboro College on Nov. 11 before making five more against Detroit-Mercy on Nov. 13, including a game-tying conversion with eight seconds remaining in regulation to send the game to overtime. Bannister added two triples in the victory over UNCW.

EDUCATE ME
This year's Education Day brought a crowd of 4,958 to Minges Coliseum. That number stands as the second highest in facility history for a women's basketball game.

1. Nov. 20, 2015 - 5,408 vs. Presbyterian
2. Nov. 15, 2016 - 4,958 vs. UNC Wilmington
3. Dec. 31, 2014 - 4,706 vs. Connecticut
4. Jan. 30, 1981 - 4,500 vs. USC
5. Feb. 5, 1981 - 4,240 vs. North Carolina

GAFFNEY NAMED AAC PLAYER-OF-THE-WEEK
Gaffney was named the first American Athletic Conference Women's Basketball Player-of-the-Week for the 2016-17 season on Monday, Nov. 14, becoming the first Pirate to receive the conference's top weekly honor since Jada Payne on Dec. 15, 2014. She averaged 27.5 points, seven rebounds and 4.5 steals while shooting 24-for-35 (.686) from the field in a 2-0 week for the Pirates.

STICKY FINGERS
McDonald recorded nine steals against Greensboro College on Nov. 11 which tied three former Pirates for the third most in a single-game in program history. As a team, the Pirates notched 31 steals which stand as the fourth most in a game in school history.

STREAK OF THREES
ECU has made at least one three-point basket in 205 consecutive games. The last time the Pirates did not make at least one was Feb. 6, 2010 at UCF. In the last two seasons, East Carolina has held three different opponents without a conversion from beyond the arc:

Dec. 19, 2014 - Loyola-Maryland (0-12)
Nov. 17, 2015 - Alcorn State (0-8)
Feb. 29, 2016 - SMU (0-7)

PIRATES PICKED SIXTH IN AMERICAN PRESEASON POLL
ECU was picked to finish sixth in the American Athletic Conference for the 2016-17 season according to a preseason poll of the league's head coaches. Connecticut was chosen as the unanimous preseason favorite with 100 points, ahead of Temple in second place (87) and USF in third (86). Tulane accumulated 73 points for fourth place, while SMU rounded out the top five with 50. East Carolina received 49 points in the poll and was ranked ahead of Memphis (47), UCF (41), Tulsa (33), Cincinnati (23) and Houston (16).

TOP-50 SIGNING CLASS ARRIVES
Freshmen Dominique Claytor, Alexis Cortez, Raven Johnson and junior Thais Oliveira, signed National Letters of Intent to play for the Pirates in November 2015, comprising the No. 49 overall class nationally, according to the Dan Olsen Collegiate Girls Basketball Report. The quarter marked ECU's first top-50 signing class in program history.

PIRATES IN THE COMMUNITY
ECU Women's Basketball players have logged more than 400 hours of community service so far this year and have accumulated over 500 hours each of the last several seasons. They have put in time at the Cypress Glen Retirement Community, The Boys and Girls Club of Pitt County and Elmhurst Elementary School among many others.

UP NEXT
East Carolina returns to Minges Coliseum Monday, Nov. 28, hosting Presbyterian out of the Big South Conference. Tipoff is scheduled for 7 p.m.