Gameday: Pirates Open AAC Championship Against SMU

Game 30: No. 9 SMU (11-18, 5-11) vs. No. 8 ECU (15-14, 6-10)
Date	Friday, March 8
Time	2 p.m. (EST)
Location	Uncasville, Conn. (Mohegan Sun Arena)
Coverage	Live Stats \ Watch \ Listen
Information	ECU Notes
Social Media	Twitter: @ECUWomensHoops Instagram: @ECUWomensHoops Facebook: ECU Women's Basketball

GREENVILLE, N.C. – With two wins to close out the regular season, the ECU women's basketball team will get a rematch in the opening round of the AAC Championship as the Pirates take on SMU on Friday afternoon.

ECU (15-14, 6-10) won its regular season finale against those same SMU Mustangs, winning 67-61 on Senior Night. That helped the Pirates finish in a tie for the seventh in the American, the second-highest finish during ECU's five years in the conference. Lashonda Monk led the team with 19 points to go along with four assists and five steals. In their final game inside Minges Coliseum, Alex Frazier and Destiny Campbell both scored in double figures, as Frazier poured in 17 and Campbell had 16.

Monk leads ECU in scoring (13.1 ppg), assists (3.4 apg) and steals (4.1 spg). Her 114 steals lead the AAC and is the fifth-highest total in the nation. Monk is now second on ECU's single-season steals list and needs 10 to break the ECU record. Raven Johnson has been one of the most improved players in the conference this season, bumping her scoring average from 4.6 ppg to 12.6 ppg and going from 2.4 rebounds to a team-high 6.4 boards each game. Campbell had maybe her best three-game stretch in an ECU uniform to close the season. The senior averaged 15.0 points, 4.7 rebounds and two blocks during those final three games, two of which were victories.

SMU (11-18, 5-11) had won three straight games before losing to ECU, moving up to the No. 9 seed in the conference tournament. The Mustangs rely on their defense, allowing just 59.0 points, the fourth-stingiest defense in the AAC. On the other end, their offense averages just 55.7 points, the lowest total in the league. SMU is second in the league in blocks, averaging 4.2 and leads the league in offensive rebounds (15.8). Alicia Froling will be looking to extend her outstanding collegiate career, which has seen her score over 1,000 points and haul in 1,000 rebounds. She is averaging 10.5 points and 9.1 rebounds this season while Kayla Wite leads the team in scoring (11.4 ppg). Froling also leads the league with 1.9 blocks.

Friday's matchup will be the third straight year that ECU and SMU have met in the AAC First Round. In 2017, SMU won 60-54 while ECU won 85-74 in 2018. ECU leads the all-time series 13-8, including a pair of wins this season. The two schools have met on a neutral site four times, twice in the Conference USA Championship and twice in the AAC Championship, each team winning twice. ECU is 2-1 all-time in the AAC First Round, winning in 2016 and 2018. The Pirates were also seeded eighth in 2016 and they beat Cincinnati before losing to Connecticut.

Tipoff is scheduled for 2 p.m., on Friday afternoon at the Mohegan Sun Arena. The game will be streamed on ESPN3 with Sam Gore and Blair Schaefer on the call. Fans can also listen to the radio broadcast here or follow the live stats here.

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Players Mentioned

Destiny Campbell

Alex Frazier

Raven Johnson

Lashonda Monk

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