Gameday: East Carolina Hosts Southern Tuesday Night In Non-Conference Action

Game 12: Southern University at East Carolina
Date	Tuesday, Dec. 20
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
Social Media	Twitter: @ECUScoreboard \\\ @ECUWomensHoops \\\ #ECUndaunted \\\ #2FTN

GREENVILLE, N.C. – East Carolina puts its 5-1 home record on the line Tuesday night, hosting Southern University in a non-conference contest inside Williams Arena at Minges Coliseum. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m.

ECU captured its first road victory of the season Saturday in Richmond, defeating the Spiders 71-60 after holding as much as a 23-point lead in the contest. The Pirates will welcome a return home to Minges where they have won their last two over Presbyterian and Maryland Eastern Shore. The only blemish is a loss to SEC member Auburn by nine points back on Nov. 20. Moreover, East Carolina has won 24 of its last 25 non-conference home games.

The Pirates are averaging 70.1 points per game through 11 outings this season and are holding opponents to 64.2 per contest. ECU is shooting the ball at 43.9 percent from the field, 37.2 percent from three-point land and 63.4 percent at the free throw line. East Carolina is also +4.4 in the rebounding column, pulling down 40.7 boards per game to its opponents' 36.4.

Graduate student and forward Kristen Gaffney paces the individual offensive efforts for the Pirates, pouring in 16.2 points per game, while redshirt senior forward Bre McDonald is putting up 12.4 points per contest. Gaffney also leads the team in rebounding average at 6.9 a game.

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 Jaguars
Southern is 2-5 overall after falling to Texas A&M 81-58 Saturday afternoon in Houston, Texas. The Jaguars own victories over Spring Hill (68-53) and Bethune-Cookman (61-59) while carrying additional losses to Michigan State (70-55), UCLA (95-47), Ohio State (108-73) and South Alabama (55-48). Briana Green leads the offensive charge with an average of 13.4 points per game and is tied for the team lead with a 5.6 rebounds per contest average. Cortnei Purnell and Skylar O'Bear are right at double figures in the points column averaging 9.7 and 9.6 per outing respectively. As a team, Southern is scoring 58.6 points per game but giving up 74.4. The Jaguars are shooting the ball at a .344 clip from the field, .324 from beyond the arc and .660 at the charity stripe. In Saturday's contest against the Aggies, Southern was down 64-40 before out-scoring Texas A&M 18-17 in the final quarter. Green netted 22 points in the loss while Jaden Towner added 11. Southern was out-rebounded 45-23 and allowed the Aggies 15 offensive boards.

The Series
The series history between East Carolina and Southern is a short one, spanning just two meetings in Greenville. The Jaguars captured a 49-41 decision Dec. 1, 2001 before the Pirates won 59-55 Dec. 3, 2005.

Last Time Out (Dec. 17)
East Carolina captured its first road win of the season, defeating Richmond 71-60 in a non-conference contest at the Robins Center. Kristen Gaffney netted 21 points and 10 rebounds for her first double-double of the campaign. She has now scored 20 or more points in four games. Khadidja Toure reached double figures as well with 12 points to go along with five rebounds. Stuffing the stat sheet was Alex Frazier who matched her season high with six assists as well as corralling a season-high seven rebounds. ECU shot 41.9 percent from the field, knocking down 26 of 62 attempts, while limiting Richmond to 32.2 percent (19 of 59). The Pirates also dominated the glass, pulling down a season-best 50 rebounds (15 offensive) to the Spiders' 34. East Carolina shared the basketball very well, notching 19 assists. The teams combined for 32 turnovers in a physical contest.

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

Holston Nominated For NABC Good Works Team
Holston was named a nominee for the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) Good Works Team. The Allstate NABC and WBCA Good Works Teams® recognizes players at all levels of college basketball whose charitable involvement and altruistic acts stand out amongst all other student-athletes participating in the sport.

Never Too Early To Keep Track
Through games of Dec. 17, East Carolina currently ranks 74th in the NCAA ratings percentage index - a factor in determining at-large bids to the NCAA Tournament. The Pirates' three losses have occurred against teams in the top 55 of the RPI - Auburn (21), Charlotte (43) and West Virginia (55).

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

Balancing Act
ECU has been a balanced team this season, utilizing all 11 players on its roster in each of the last seven games. Furthermore, every member of the team is averaging at least 9.4 minutes played. In the contest at Charlotte, all 11 Pirates scored at least one point.

Three Me
ECU has made at least one three-point basket in 212 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.

Pirates Picked Sixth In AAC 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 quartet marked ECU's first top-50 signing class in program history.

Pirates in the Community
East Carolina 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
The Pirates close out non-conference play Wednesday, Dec. 28 when they head back to Virginia for a contest against CAA member William and Mary in Williamsburg.

Gameday: East Carolina Hosts Southern Tuesday Night In Non-Conference Action

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Players Mentioned

Antoinette Bannister

Dominique Claytor

Alexis Cortez

Alex Frazier

Kristen Gaffney

Raven Johnson

Bre McDonald

Thais Oliveira

Khadidja Toure

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