Gameday: ECU Heads To Charlotte Thursday For Non-Conference Matchup

Game 9: East Carolina at Charlotte
Date	Thursday, Dec. 1
Time	7:00 p.m. (ET)
Location	Charlotte, N.C. (Halton Arena)
Coverage	Live Stats \\\ Watch Live \\\ WZMB Radio \\\ East Carolina Game Notes
Social Media	Twitter: @ECUScoreboard \\\ @ECUWomensHoops \\\ #2FTN \\\ ECUndaunted

GREENVILLE, N.C. – The East Carolina women's basketball team, having won three of its last four games, continues non-conference play with a matchup at Charlotte Thursday evening. Tipoff from Halton Arena is scheduled for 7 p.m.

ECU has won six of its first eight games for the third-straight season and will play its first true road contest of the campaign when it faces the 49ers.

The Pirates defeated Presbyterian 54-46 in their most recent outing Monday evening at Minges Coliseum. Graduate forward Kristen Gaffney scored a game-high 18 points on 9-for-12 shooting to go along with eight rebounds. She has now made 63 field goals this campaign, a top-five mark in the nation, as well as improved her field goal percentage to an American Athletic Conference-best 63 percent. Redshirt junior forward Gabrielle Holston pitched in with eight points, five rebounds, four assists, a block and a steal in 23 minutes of work.

ECU drained 22 of its 47 attempts from the field to finish at 47 percent while the Blue Hose were limited to just 15 made shots out of 54 attempted. The Pirates ended up with a 34-33 edge on the glass, including a 25-19 advantage in defensive rebounds. Additionally, East Carolina notched 18 assists and five blocked shots.

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 49ers
Charlotte (3-3) looks to snap a two-game skid after losing to Utah and Boise State over the weekend at the Hilton Concord Classic in Moraga, Calif. The 49ers have wins over Wisconsin, College of Charleston and Presbyterian as well as a loss to then No. 22 Miami. Grace Hunter paces Charlotte in scoring early in the season at 19.3 points per game and has also pulled down an average of 6.0 rebounds per contest. As a team, the 49ers are shooting the ball at 38.3 percent from the field while averaging 62.5 points and 40.2 rebounds a game. Charlotte has racked up 34 blocked shots in six outings, including a team-high 11 by Kenya Olley. The 49ers are 2-0 at home so far this campaign.

Last Meeting
Shae Nelson drained a three-point field goal with 2:43 remaining in the game to spark a 9-0 East Carolina run as the Pirates defeated Charlotte, 71-62, at Minges Coliseum. Nelson tied her career-high with 17 points to go along with three rebounds and one block. Abria Trice led all scorers with 21 points. The contest saw the in-state rivals battle through eight ties and 12 lead changes as East Carolina shot 49.2-percent from the field. Charlotte was limited by the ECU defense to just 7.1-percent shooting from beyond the arc as the 49ers went 1-for-14. ECU finished the game with 41 rebounds, 11 assists, eight blocks, and as many steals.

The Series
Charlotte leads the series 23-9, including a 12-2 mark at Halton Arena.

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 14 more victories, she will surpass Sharon Baldwin-Tener (2002-10), who tops the list with 126.

Gaffney Gets #Buckets
Through games of Nov. 28, graduate student and forward Kristen Gaffney ranks second nationally in field goals made at 63, trailing only Kelsey Plum of Washington (67). She also sits 10th in total points (141) and 14th in field goal percentage (.630). 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 209 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 the friendly confines Sunday, Dec 4., when it hosts Maryland Eastern Shore at 1 p.m.

Gameday: ECU Heads To Charlotte Thursday For Non-Conference Matchup

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Antoinette Bannister

Dominique Claytor

Alexis Cortez

Kristen Gaffney

Gabrielle Holston

Raven Johnson

Thais Oliveira

Jada Payne

Footer