East Carolina University
SMU
Women’s Basketball Hosts SMU Saturday Afternoon
January 06, 2017 | Women's Basketball
| Game 16: SMUÂ at East Carolina | |
| Date | Saturday, Jan. 4 |
| Time | 1:00 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 (9-6, 0-2 AAC) hosts SMU Saturday afternoon in American Athletic Conference action. The Pirates are 0-2 in league play following last Wednesday's 90-45 loss at No. 1 Connecticut. Tip-off is slated for 1 p.m. Saturday and the AAC matchup will be streamed live on the American Digital Network with Brock Bowling and Mack McCarthy on the call.
Kristen Gaffney leads the Pirates with 16.1 points and 6.4 rebounds per game. She scored a team-high 12 points against the Huskies Wednesday night while shooting 50 percent (5-for-10) from the field. Bre McDonald is second on the squad in scoring with 11.6 points and 5.9 rebounds per game. The Pirates enter Saturday's game averaging 66.3 points per game and shooting 42.7 percent from the field.Â
Collectively, the Pirates rank third in the league in assists per game (14.4) as well as fourth in scoring offense (66.3), field goal percentage (.427) and three-point field goal percentage (.340). ECU also ranks third in the league in defensive rebounds per game (26.8).
Scouting the Mustangs                                                                                        Â
SMU (10-4, 1-0 AAC) rides a three-game win streak into Saturday afternoon's matchup with the Pirates. In the Mustangs' last time out' SMU defeated Cincinnati 64-47 in its American Athletic Conference opener. Saturday's game marks the first road game for SMU since a 91-42 loss at Mississippi State December 16, 2016. SMU has won five of its last six games, four of which were at home. The Mustangs are led by Alicia Froling who is averaging double-double figures with 14.5 points and 10.6 rebounds per game this season. SMU is shooting 39.1 percent from the field as a unit and is holding opponents to 34.3 percent. The Mustangs enter Saturday's game fourth in the American Athletic Conference standings. SMU was picked fifth in the AAC Preseason Poll, one spot ahead of the Pirates.
The Series                                                                                                            Â
SMU holds an 8-6 advantage in the all-time series. The first meeting between the two was Jan. 27, 2006 when the Pirates defeated SMU 75-63 at home. ECU is 5-1 all-time at home against the Mustangs.
Last Time Out (Jan. 4)Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â
Top-ranked Connecticut's sharp shooting handed East Carolina its first road loss of the American Conference season Wednesday night to Connecticut, 90-45, in the XL Center. Kristen Gaffney led the Pirates for the second time in as many American Conference games. She scored a team-best 12 points connecting on 50 percent from the field (5-for-10). Khadidja Toure and Fanni Csutoras added eight points apiece while Raven Johnson and Dominique Claytor each had five rebounds.
Connecticut was paced by Napheesa Collier who led all scorers with 21 points and seven rebounds. Five Huskies scored in double figures in the win. ECU shot 33.9 percent from the field while Connecticut shot 58.1 percent from the field and 41.7 percent from three-point range. UConn won the battle on the backboards, outrebounding East Carolina 41-23.
Macy Ascending On ECU All-Time Coaching Wins List                                                                     Â
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                                                                 Â
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.Â
Bannister Comes Up Clutch                                                                                      Â
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 was a big reason for this success as she drained some big shots for the Purple and Gold. She canned 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 nailed a huge three with two seconds remaining against Ball State to force overtime as East Carolina out-scored the Cardinals 19-6 in the extra period.
Educate Me                                                                                                    Â
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                                                                                                        Â
ECU has been a balanced team this season, utilizing all 11 players on its roster in 10 of the last 11 games. Furthermore, nine Pirates are averaging double-digit minutes played. In the contest at Charlotte, all 11 ECU players scored at least one point.
Seeing Triple                                                                                                            Â
ECU has made at least one three-point basket in 217 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                                                                          Â
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                                                                                   Â
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                                                                                          Â
ECU Women's Basketball players have logged more than 600 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                                                                                                                  Â
East Carolina will hit the road to face Temple, Wednesday, January 11, at 7 p.m. The American Athletic Conference game will be broadcast live on the American Digital Network with Keith Irizarry as the play-by-play announcer and Scott Greene as the analyst.
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