East Carolina Wraps Up Homestand Against Houston

Game 12: Houston at East Carolina
The Game	Jan. 16 \\\ 1:00 p.m. \\\ Live Stats \\\ Watch
Venue	Williams Arena at Minges Coliseum (Greenville, N.C.)
Information	Game Notes \\\ Record Book \\\ 2020-21 Quick Facts
Statistics	East Carolina \\\ Houston
Social Media	Twitter \\\ Instagram \\\ TikTok \\\ #OnePirateNation

GREENVILLE, N.C. – After some close calls against the top of the American Athletic Conference, East Carolina looks to snap a three-game skid Saturday afternoon when it hosts Houston inside Williams Arena at Minges Coliseum.

The contest is slated for a 1 p.m. tip and will be streamed live through ESPN+ with Chris Edwards (play-by-play) and Debbie Taylor (analyst) on the call.

ECU (5-6, 3-3 AAC) enters the day in a three-way tie for fourth place along with Houston and Tulane. The Pirates fell to UCF by a 58-51 margin Wednesday in Greenville and have faced the top three teams in the league standings (USF, Temple and UCF) consecutively in their last three outings.

Sierra DaCosta poured in a game-high 19 points while Lashonda Monk chipped in with 16. Tiara Chambers secured a team and evening-best nine rebounds and added two blocks in her first action since the Tulane game back on Dec. 22.

Both teams connected on 19 shots from the field, but the Knights arguably won the game at the free throw line where they drained 18 of 25 attempts. The Pirates were whistled for 25 fouls to UCF's 11 and managed just a 4-for-8 showing at the stripe. The visitors out-rebounded ECU 37-30 and recorded 10 steals off 15 Pirate turnovers. East Carolina collected nine steals as the Knights committed 17 turnovers of their own.

The Pirates lead the American Conference in steals per game (11.4) and are second in turnover margin (+4.82) while also ranking ninth nationally in total steals (125) and 20th in steals per game. Monk is 19th in the country in total steals.

Scouting Houston
Houston is 6-4 overall and 3-3 in American Conference play following a 75-49 home victory over Tulsa Wednesday. The Cougars had lost three straight to UCF, Tulane and USF before downing the Golden Hurricane. Britney Onyeje leads Houston in scoring average at 10.4 points per game while Julia Blackshell-Fair is putting up 9.2 points and 5.8 rebounds an outing. As a unit, the Cougars average 68.3 points, 39.1 rebounds, 13.5 assists, 10.2 steals and 4.2 blocks. Houston also shoots the ball at a 39.6-percent clip from the floor. Additionally, the Cougars rank second in the league in blocked shots per game and steals per game. Ronald Hughey is in his seventh season as head coach at Houston.

The Houston Series
Houston leads East Carolina by a 14-9 margin in a series that dates back to 2002 when both schools were members of Conference USA. The Pirates and Cougars split a pair of meetings in 2019-20 with each squad winning on its home floor. ECU is 5-5 against Houston in games played at Minges Coliseum

Progression Evident
Last season, East Carolina lost to USF and UCF by respective 29 and 36-point margins. The Pirates have closed the gap considerably, falling to the Bulls and Knights by a combined 20 points this month.

1K Achieved
DaCosta scored 10 points in the first half against UCF, surpassing 1,000 for her career. She is the second Pirate to reach the milestone under head coach Kim McNeill as Monk has scored over 1,200 points in the Purple and Gold.

Up Next
East Carolina travels to Tulsa Jan. 20 for a 7 p.m. tipoff inside the Reynolds Center.

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Players Mentioned

Tiara Chambers

Sierra DaCosta

Lashonda Monk

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