Pirates Open AAC Championship Tuesday Night

Game 22: No. 6 East Carolina vs. No. 3 Houston
The Game	March 9 \\\ 10:00 p.m. \\\ Live Stats \\\ Watch Live
Venue	Dickies Arena (Fort Worth, Dallas)
Information	Game Notes \\\ Record Book \\\ 2020-21 Quick Facts
Statistics	East Carolina \\\ Houston
Social Media	Twitter \\\ Instagram \\\ TikTok \\\ #OnePirateNation

GREENVILLE, N.C. – With the regular-season in the rearview mirror, the sixth-seeded East Carolina women's basketball team will open the American Athletic Conference Championship against third-seeded Houston on Tuesday night at Dickies Arena in Forth Worth, Texas.

ECU (8-13, 6-10 AAC) finished the season 3-3 in its last six games after snapping a seven-game losing streak. The Pirates earned a first-round bye and will be looking to reach the AAC Championship semifinals for the first time since 2015, the first year ECU played in the conference. The Pirates have a 1-3 record all-time in the quarterfinals, with two losses to top-seeded UConn and another to second-seed USF while the win came against No. 4 seed Temple. After losing to Temple in the opening round in 2020, ECU will be trying to avoid losing its first game in consecutive tournaments for the first time since 2004 and 2005.

ECU will be led by Lashonda Monk, who made history this season by becoming the first player to ever win back-to-back AAC Defensive Player of the Year awards. The senior guard led the American in steals per game, averaging 2.8 takeaways. She also pitched in on the defensive glass, grabbing 3.8 boards. All of this while leading the Pirates in scoring with 13.7 points, which is eighth in the league.

Along with Monk, Taniyah Thompson (11.8 points) and Maddie Moore (10.0) each scored in double-figures while Sierra DaCosta (9.4) just missed that figure. Moore finished the season strong, scoring in double-figures in each of her final four games, including recording a double-double in the season-finale against Tulane. Also improving down the stretch was freshman Synia Johnson. Johnson set career-highs in points (13), assists (6), rebounds (5) and tied it in steals (3) in the final four games and earned her first career AAC Weekly Honor Roll selection. Finally, Dominique Claytor joined Monk at the top of the conference leaderboard in steals. Claytor finished with 57 steals to lead the conference while her 2.7 steals per game trailed just her teammate.

Houston (15-6, 12-5 AAC) recorded its highest finish in the AAC standings, earning the third seed. The Cougars are led by Miya Crump and Laila Blair, who both earned postseason honors from the AAC. Blair was named to the AAC All-Freshman team while Crump was named to the Third-Team All-Conference. Britney Onyeje also scores in double-figures for Houston, averaging 10.2 points. The Cougars have one of the most potent offenses in the league, averaging 68,5 points while allowing just 61.9 points to opponents. Like the Pirates, Houston tries to force turnovers as the Cougars' 10.8 steals trails just East Carolina's 12.0 per game in the American.

It will be the second meeting of the season between ECU and Houston, as the Pirates' trip to Houston was cancelled due to inclement weather. The Cougars earned a 66-56 win in Minges Coliseum by jumping out to an early lead. The Pirates cut the 17-point deficit to just six, but could not come all the way back. That win gave Houston a 15-9 lead in the all-time series, but Tuesday's game will be the first time the two schools have ever met in postseason play.

Tipoff for Tuesday night's game is slated for 10 p.m., inside Dickies Arena. The game will be broadcast on ESPN+.

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Players Mentioned

Dominique Claytor

Sierra DaCosta

Synia Johnson

Lashonda Monk

Maddie Moore

Taniyah Thompson

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