Gameday: ECU Travels To William And Mary For Non-Conference Finale

Game 13: East Carolina at William and Mary
Date	Wednesday, Dec. 28
Time	7:00 p.m. (ET)
Location	Williamsburg, Va. (Kaplan Arena)
Coverage	Live Stats \\\ Watch Live \\\ WZMB Radio \\\ East Carolina Game Notes
Social Media	Twitter: @ECUScoreboard \\\ @ECUWomensHoops \\\ #2FTN \\\ ECUndaunted

GREENVILLE, N.C. - In its final tuneup before American Athletic Conference play begins, East Carolina heads up to Williamsburg, Va., for a Wednesday night contest at William and Mary. Tipoff inside Kaplan Arena is set for 7 p.m.

The Pirates are 9-3 overall after picking up a 62-55 home victory over defending Southwestern Athletic Conference regular season champion Southern back on Dec. 20 in Greenville. ECU is 1-1 on the road this campaign with a win at Richmond and a loss at Charlotte.

Kristen Gaffney leads the team with a 15.5 scoring average and four 20-plus point scoring efforts. Bre McDonald is averaging 13.0 points and 7.2 rebounds per game and owns a squad-best four double-doubles.

As a team, East Carolina is shooting the ball at 44.3 percent from the field, 36.6 percent from beyond the arc and 61.1 percent from the free throw line. The Pirates have a positive rebounding margin, averaging 40.7 boards per game while giving up 36.3 to its opponents.

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 Tribe
William and Mary is off to its best start in program history, bringing a 9-1 overall record into the contest. The Tribe defeated St. Francis (Pa.) 73-60 in its most recent outing back on Dec. 20 in Williamsburg. William and Mary prides itself on defense, allowing just 50.6 points per game - the seventh-best mark in the nation. The Tribe averages 64.1 points per contest. Marlena Tremba paces the offense, scoring 14.3 points per game, while Alexandra Masaquel is putting up 10.9 points and 7.0 rebounds per appearance. William and Mary is shooting the ball at a 42.1 percent clip from the field, 35.3 percent from the three-point line and 69.3 percent at the charity stripe. In terms of rebounding, the Tribe boasts a 36.2 average and is giving up 36.5 per game to its opponents. The Tribe is 5-1 at home, owning wins over Richmond (67-39), Delaware State (82-48), Dartmouth (63-50) and the aforementioned Red Flash while falling to St. John's (73-57) in its home opener.

The Series
East Carolina and WIlliam and Mary have a long series history of which the Pirates have won 33 of the 44 meetings and six straight. The Pirates and Tribe last matched up Nov. 15, 2013 when ECU beat William and Mary 69-57 in Greenville.

Last Time Out (Dec. 20)
East Carolina held Southern to just four points over the final six minutes to record a 62-55 non-conference victory and improve its home record to 6-1. Bre McDonald collected her fourth double-double of the season, finishing with 20 points and 11 rebounds to go along with four assists, while Khadidja Toure netted 13 points on 6-for-8 shooting from the field. ECU shot the ball well in the contest, knocking down 27 of 54 attempts (50 percent), but struggled at the free throw line – making just six of 17 (35.3 percent). East Carolina limited the Jaguars to just 35.9 percent (23 of 64) efficiency from the field and a 2-for-10 (20 percent) showing from beyond the arc. The Pirates corralled 40 rebounds to Southern's 36 and improved to 7-1 when out-rebounding their opponent. The teams combined for 40 turnovers but, after committing 16 in the first half, ECU cleaned it up after the break and turned the ball over just six times.

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

Holston Nominated For NABC Good Works Team
Gabrielle 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.

Non-Conference Success
In Macy's six-plus seasons at the helm, East Carolina is 62-36 in non-conference games including a 9-3 record this season. With a win at William and Mary, the Pirates will secure double-digit non-league victories for the fourth time since the 2009-10 campaign.

Bannister Comes Up Clutch
East Carolina 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 eight games. Furthermore, nine Pirates are averaging double-digit minutes played. In the contest at Charlotte, all 11 ECU players scored at least one point.

Three Me
ECU has made at least one three-point basket in 213 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
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 begins its AAC slate New Year's Eve when it welcomes Tulane to Minges Coliseum. Tipoff is scheduled for 2:30 p.m. and the game is the second of a doubleheader with the men's team who battles SMU at 12 noon.

Gameday: ECU Travels To William And Mary For Non-Conference Finale

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Players Mentioned

Antoinette Bannister

Dominique Claytor

Alexis Cortez

Kristen Gaffney

Gabrielle Holston

Raven Johnson

Bre McDonald

Thais Oliveira

Khadidja Toure

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