GAMEDAY PREVIEW: East Carolina at UCF

Saturday, February 18

Orlando, FLA

2 PM

East Carolina University

UCF

February 17, 2017 | Women's Basketball

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Game 27: East Carolina at UCF
Date	Saturday, February 17
Time	2:00 p.m. (ET)
Location	Orlando, Fla. (CFE Arena)
Coverage	Live Stats \\\ Watch Live \\\ WZMB Radio \\\ East Carolina Game Notes
Social Media	Twitter: @ECUScoreboard \\\ @ECUWomensHoops \\\ #ECUndaunted \\\ #2FTN

GREENVILLE, N.C. – East Carolina (10-16, 1-12 AAC) heads to the Sunshine State on Saturday to face UCF (16-9, 6-6 AAC) at 2 p.m. inside the CFE Arena. Fans can catch the action live on the American Digital Network with Despina Barton and Eric Lopez on the call.

The Pirates look to subdue the Knights who are coming off their biggest win in the program's Division I era. UCF most recently defeated No. 22 USF on Tuesday, 66-62, in Tampa as part of the two's War on I-4 series.

With three games left in the regular season, East Carolina looks to snap a 10-game losing streak that dates back to January 11. The Pirates most recent game, a 72-50 loss on the road in Memphis, marked ECU's sixth AAC loss of the season outside the comfy confines of Minges Coliseum.

Kristen Gaffney leads the Pirates in scoring and rebounds with 15.0 points and 6.5 boards per game. Bre McDonald is the only other member of the Purple and Gold's lineup averaging double figures in points with 11.6 per game while adding 6.5 rebounds per game. Raven Johnson had a career-high eight rebounds in the Pirates' last contest and is shooting 43.3 percent from the field in the last five outings.

Scouting the Knights
UCF is coming off its biggest win of the Knights' Division I era Tuesday night when it beat No. 22 USF in the Sun Dome in the War on I-4 matchup. It marked the Knights' first win over a nationally-ranked opponent since transitioning to Division I and UCF's first win in Tampa. Aliyah Gregory scored a career-high 34 points in the win while etching her name in the UCF record books scoring her 1,000th career point during the game. She leads UCF with 16.8 points per game this season and averages 3.9 rebounds per game. The Knights are 16-9 overall and 8-5 at home with a 2-3 home slate in American Athletic Conference play.

The Series
East Carolina leads the series 12-6 and is 5-3 all-time under head coach Heather Macy against UCF. The Pirates had won the previous five games before UCF left Greenville with a 54-42 win earlier this season, snapping the Purple and Gold's run. It marked the first time UCF defeated ECU since January 5, 2012.

Last Time Out (Feb. 15)
East Carolina (10-16) lost to Memphis (12-12) on the road, 72-50, Wednesday night for the Pirates tenth-straight loss in American Athletic Conference play. The Tigers were led by Taylor Williams and Cheyenne Creighton who each scored 19 points. Kristen Gaffney led ECU with 13 points marking the fourth time in five games as the Pirates' leading scorer. Every member of the Purple and Gold's squad scored for the second consecutive game.

The Pirates scored 24 points in the first quarter, the most for ECU since scoring 30 against Greensboro College on November 11. The Purple and Gold held it close through the first half, trailing by three, 38-35, at halftime. Memphis controlled the final 20 minutes of play outscoring East Carolina 34-15.

ECU shot 36.8 percent from the field in the loss and was out-rebounded 40-32 by Memphis. Dominique Claytor, Thais Oliveira and Alex Frazier contributed seven points each for while Raven Johnson led the squad with eight rebounds.

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 127.

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.

Bannister Comes Up Clutch
East Carolina played in some tight games early on this season, building a 4-0 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. Most recently, Bannister banked a trey with 15 seconds left in regulation against SMU marking the fourth time this season she has netted the game-winning point for ECU.

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

Three Me
The loss at Temple snapped a 218-game streak of that East Carolina made at least one three-point basket. Prior to Temple, the last time the Pirates did not make at least one was Feb. 6, 2010 at UCF. The Pirates have now made a trey in 227 of the last 228 games.

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 700 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. On Sunday, ECU volunteered with Upward Basketball where the players taught basketball skills drills to attendees.

Up Next
The Pirates return home for the final time this season to host Cincinnati at 7 p.m. Wednesday for Senior Night.