ECU Hosts No. 3 UConn On Saturday

Game 19: No. 3/5 UConn (17-1, 7-0 AAC) at ECU (3-15, 0-5 AAC)
Date	Saturday, January 25
Time	1 p.m. (EST)
Location	Greenville, N.C. (Williams Arena at Minges Coliseum)
Coverage	Live Stats \ Watch \ Tickets \ Listen
Information	ECU Notes
Social Media	Twitter: @ECUWomensHoops Instagram: @ECUWomensHoops Facebook: ECU Women's Basketball

GREENVILLE, N.C. – For the first time this season, the ECU women's basketball team will take on a top-25 opponent as the Pirates welcome No. 3/5 UConn to Minges Coliseum on Saturday afternoon.

ECU (3-15, 0-5 AAC) nearly got its first conference win on Tuesday night when the Pirates fell 58-56 to Tulsa. ECU had a chance to send the game to overtime, but Lashonda Monk's driving layup just missed as time expired. Monk has stepped up her play in conference games, averaging 18.0 points against league opponents, which is fifth in the conference, and has scored at least 20 points in three of the five games. She has also gone 19-of-19 from the free throw line since the calendar turned to January and is averaging a league-best 3.8 steals this season. Taniyah Thompson continues to lead all rookie scorers in the conference, averaging 11.9 points. The freshman from Hamden, Ct., is coming off her first career double-double against Tulsa, scoring 16 points to go with a career-high 10 rebounds, eight of which came on the offensive end. That helped ECU outrebound its opponent for just the second time all season. As a team, ECU is second in the country in both steals per game (13.8) and turnovers forced per game (25.2), third in total steals (248) and fifth in turnover margin (+8.33).

In its last season in the AAC, UConn (17-1, 7-0 AAC) continues to lead the conference. The Huskies have won five straight games since dropping their only loss of the season to Baylor. Megan Walker (20.5 ppg), Christyn Williams (15.8 ppg) and Crystal Dangerfield (15.7 ppg) are all in the top-six in scoring in the AAC. Walker has also been a prolific rebounder, grabbing 8.8 rebounds. However, it is Olivia Nelson-Ododa who leads UConn in rebounding, grabbing 9.1 boards to rank fifth in the conference. ECU will be glad that Katie Lou Samuelson and Napheesa Collier are now in the WNBA, as both had a 30-point game against the Pirates last season. As a team, UConn ranks 11th in the country in both field goal percentage (.468) and in field goal percentage defense (.342).

UConn has dominated the series between the two schools, winning all 11 matchups. The two schools have met in Greenville four times in, the last coming in January of 2018. Last season, ECU had its best showing against the Huskies in the AAC Championship Quarterfinals. The Pirates eventually fell 92-65, but were within seven points at the halftime break and saw Monk score 20 points to lead the Pirates. ECU has played 104 games against ranked opponents and is just 5-99 in those contests. Against top-five teams, ECU is 0-32. The Pirates' last win over a ranked opponent was on Feb. 14, 2015 when ECU took down No. 25 South Florida 65-64 behind Jada Payne's 20 points.

Tipoff is scheduled for 1 p.m., on Saturday afternoon in Minges Coliseum. The game will be broadcast on SNY and ESPN3 and the fans can follow the live stats here.

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Players Mentioned

Lashonda Monk

Taniyah Thompson

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