Gameday: East Carolina Hosts Presbyterian Monday Night At Minges

Game 8: East Carolina vs. Presbyterian
Date	Monday, November 28
Time	7:00 p.m. (ET)
Location	Greenville, N.C. (Williams Arena at Minges Coliseum)
Coverage	Live Stats \\\ Watch Live \\\ WZMB Radio \\\ East Carolina Game Notes \\\ Presbyterian Game Notes
Social Media	Twitter: @ECUScoreboard \\\ @ECUWomensHoops

GREENVILLE, N.C. – After posting a 2-1 record at the Savannah Invitational last week, East Carolina returns home to Minges Coliseum Monday night for a non-conference matchup with Big South Foe Presbyterian. Tipoff is scheduled for 7 p.m.

With a victory over the Blue Hose, ECU will earn its 700th victory in program history.

The Pirates defeated Marist (70-68) and Ball State (82-69) while falling to then No. 19 West Virginia (79-47) at the Savannah Civic Center to cap a successful Thanksgiving Week trip. Redshirt senior forward Bre McDonald scored in double figures in all three contests, averaging 17.1 points per game, while also producing a double-double of 11 points and 11 rebounds against the Red Foxes in the tournament opener. Redshirt senior guard Khadidja Toure also netted a career-high 25 points to help propel ECU past the Cardinals in overtime on Thanksgiving Day.

East Carolina will play its three of its next five games in Greenville before wrapping up non-conference action Dec. 28 at William and Mary. The Pirates are 3-1 so far at Minges Coliseum this year, downing Greensboro College, Detroit-Mercy and UNC Wilmington while falling by single digits to SEC member Auburn in its most recent home outing.

FOR STARTERS
Head Coach Heather Macy is in her seventh season leading the Pirates, who have averaged just shy of 20 wins per year since the start of the 2012-13 campaign. ECU returns four players from its 2015-16 roster and welcomes eight newcomers, including four freshmen.

SCOUTING THE BLUE HOSE
Presbyterian (0-5) is still looking for its first victory of the 2016-17 campaign following an 74-62 overtime loss to Texas Southern Nov. 25 in Puerto Rico. The Blue Hose has also fallen to Indiana, USC Upstate, Virginia Tech and Charlotte. Janie Miles leads the offensive charge, scoring 11.4 points per game while Cortney Storey is also in double figures at 10.6 points per contest. On the glass, Salina Virola is pulling down a team-best 4.0 rebounds per game. Collectively, Presbyterian averages 49.2 points and 27.4 rebounds per outing and is shooting the ball at a 35.5 percent clip. Conversely, its opponents are putting up 67.6 points and 42.4 rebounds per game.

LAST MEETING (NOV. 20, 2015)
In front of a program-record crowd of 5,408, Jada Payne recorded her third double-double of the season with 26 points, 10 rebounds and five assists as East Carolina collected an 84-57 victory over Presbyterian on Education Day at Minges Coliseum. The Pirates finished the day shooting 32-for-56 (.571) overall, 7-for-13 (.538) from three and 13-for-20 (.650) at the free throw line, while holding a 34-22 scoring advantage in the paint, 24-18 off turnovers and 18-10 on second chance baskets. The Blue Hose shot 18-for-43 (.419) from the field, 4-for-14 (.286) beyond the arc and 17-for-25 (.680) at the foul line.

THE SERIES
ECU leads the series with Presbyterian 4-0, including a 3-0 mark in Greenville.

MACY ASCENDING ON ECU ALL-TIME COACHING WINS LIST
Heather Macy now owns the second-most wins by a head coach in program history. With 15 more victories, she will surpass Sharon Baldwin-Tener (2002-10), who tops the list with 126.

GAFFNEY GETS #BUCKETS
Through games of Nov. 26, graduate student and forward Kristen Gaffney ranks second nationally in field goals made at 54, trailing only Kelsey Plum of Washington. She also sits 15th in total points (123) and 23rd in field goal percentage (.614). Additionally, Gaffney tops all American Athletic Conference players in each of the three categories.

BANNISTER COMES UP CLUTCH
East Carolina has played in some tight games early on this season, building a 3-0 record when the margin of victory is five points or less. Redshirt senior guard Antoinette Bannister is a big reason for this success as she has drained some big shots for the Purple and Gold. She drained a triple with eight seconds left against Detroit to send the game into overtime before hitting three free throws with 10 seconds on the clock versus Marist to give ECU the win by two points. Bannister also canned a huge three with two seconds remaining against Ball State to force overtime where East Carolina out-scored the Cardinals 19-6 in the extra period.

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.

GAFFNEY WILL REMEMBER THE TITANS
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.

STREAK OF THREES
ECU has made at least one three-point basket in 208 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 heads to Charlotte Thursday for its first true road contest of the season.

Gameday: East Carolina Hosts Presbyterian Monday Night At Minges

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Players Mentioned

Antoinette Bannister

Dominique Claytor

Alexis Cortez

Kristen Gaffney

Raven Johnson

Bre McDonald

Thais Oliveira

Jada Payne

Khadidja Toure

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