ECU Continues Homestand Against Cincinnati

Game 19: Cincinnati at East Carolina
The Game	Feb. 23 \\\ 6:00 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 \\\ Cincinnati
Social Media	Twitter \\\ Instagram \\\ TikTok \\\ #OnePirateNation

GREENVILLE, N.C. – Looking to continue its momentum down the stretch, the ECU women's basketball team will host Cincinnati on Wednesday afternoon in Minges Coliseum.

After breaking a seven-game losing streak in the month of January, ECU (7-11, 5-8 AAC) has won two of three in February, including a 74-59 win over Wichita State on Senior Night. The Pirates are still in the hunt for a bye in the opening round of the AAC Championship, with the top six teams avoiding the opening game. The Pirates currently hold that sixth and final spot, just ahead of Tulsa who holds the tiebreaker against East Carolina.

Lashonda Monk had a big performance on ECU's Senior Night, scoring 18 points on a perfect 4-of-4 from beyond the three-point arc and a season-high five steals. Monk is now sixth in the AAC in scoring (14.3 ppg), first in steals (2.9 spg) and sixth in three-point shooting percentage (.346). She is up to 19th in the country in steals per game and her 47 takeaways rank 33rd in the NCAA. Dominique Claytor is right behind Monk in the steals rankings, checking in at second in the AAC and 54th in the country with 2.4 steals each game.

The Pirate defense had one of its best games since Kim McNeill took the reins prior to the 2019-20 season. The 34 Wichita State turnovers that ECU forced were the most since the Pirates forced the same amount against Tulane in Jan. 2020 while the 17 steals tied the 17 against Towson earlier this season that was the previous high under McNeill. As a team, ECU ranks 11th in the country in turnovers forced, averaging 21.33 per game while also checking in the top-20 in steals per game (13th, 11.2), steals (17th, 202) and turnover margin (20^th, +5.28).

Scouting Cincinnati
Cincinnati (4-15, 3-11 AAC) has struggled of late, losing three straight and eight of its past nine games. Ilmar'I Thomas has been one of the top players in the conference, leading the league in scoring with 21.9 points and ranking fifth in rebounding with 7.4 boards. She also leads the conference in shooting percentage, making over half of her shots from the floor. After scoring just 28 points in her first nine games of the season, Caitlyn Wilson has emerged as a secondary scoring option for the Bearcats, averaging 16.3 points in her past six games. Wilson is fourth in the AAC in three-pointers, making 2.1 triples per game. As a team, the Bearcats have struggled on defense, ranking 10th in scoring defense (68.3 points allowed), but do lead the AAC in blocked shots, swatting 4.3 shots per night.

Cincinnati Series
ECU holds a slight 10-8 lead in the all-time series. The two teams met in December and East Carolina took a 74-67 win behind a career day from Monk. The senior guard set a career-high with 32 points against the Bearcats. It was the first 30-point performance by a Pirate since Ariyana Williams bagged 34 against Savannah State in Dec. 2017. The win snapped a two-game winning streak for the Bearcats against ECU. The Pirates have not beaten Cincinnati at home since Jan. 2017, but are 5-3 in Minges Coliseum in the series.

Tipoff for Wednesday's matchup will be at 6 p.m., inside Minges Coliseum. The game will be broadcast on ESPN+ with Chris Edwards and Mack McCarthy on the call.

Players Mentioned

Dominique Claytor

Lashonda Monk

Ariyana Williams

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