Pirates Try To Bounce Back At Tulane

Game 20: East Carolina (8-11, 1-5 AAC) at Tulane (11-7, 3-4 AAC)
The Game	January 29 \\\ 4 p.m. \\\ Live Stats \\\ Watch Live
Venue	Avron B. Fogelman Arena in the Devlin Fieldhouse (New Orleans, La.)
2021-22 Statistics	East Carolina \| Tulane
Information	ECU Notes
Social Media	Twitter \\\ Instagram \\\ TikTok \\\ #OnePirateNation

GREENVILLE, N.C. – Looking to get back on track after a pair of losses, the East Carolina women's basketball team will head to Tulane for a Saturday matinee.

East Carolina (8-11, 1-5 AAC) lost for the first time when leading at halftime, falling at Wichita Satte 70-55 after taking a 26-25 lead into the break. ECU is now 7-1 when leading at halftime this season and is 11-3 since the start of the 2020-21 campaign. The Pirates will be excited to see a breakout performance from Da'Ja Green, who scored a season-high 18 points and hit four three-pointers. Green arrived in Greenville after three seasons at Wofford and one at Virginia Tech, and has scored more than 1,200 points while handing out over 500 assists in her collegiate career, but is averaging just 6.3 points and shooting 21.3% from three, compared to 33.5% in her career. Taniyah Thompson was the other Pirate in double figures against the Shockers, scoring 15 points. Thompson is on a streak of 10 straight games with at least 10 points and if that streak reaches 11 games, not only would Thompson tie her career-best of 11 consecutive double figure scoring games, it would also make her the 24th player in East Carolina history to reach 1,000 career points as Thompson currently has 991 points in her Pirate career.

The Pirates have a pair of players leading the AAC in individual categories. Thompson is second in the AAC in scoring average with 16.6 points and leads the conference in total points, with 316 this season. Tylar Bennett had another three blocks against Wichita State, giving her 35 on the season. That total leads the AAC and is 32nd in the country. Bennett has 22 blocks in six AAC games, which is ten more than any other player in conference play. Bennett is just three away from tying the ECU record for blocks in AAC games, set by Tiara Chambers with 25 in the 2019-20 season, and needs 11 blocks to move into the overall single-season top-10 at East Carolina. As a team, the Pirates are second in the AAC and 25th in the country in rejections, with 88. The Pirates lead the AAC in steals, ranking ninth in the NCAA thanks to 222 takeaways, and tenth in the nation in turnovers forced with 23.05 per game.

Tulane (11-7, 3-4 AAC) is coming off a disappointing 69-67 loss to league leaders UCF which saw Tulane lead by double-digits early, but the Green Wave eventually missed a put back at the buzzer that could have sent the game to overtime. The loss snapped a three-game winning streak which saw Tulane fight back from an 0-3 start in AAC play. The Green Wave has gone 0-4 against UCF, South Florida and SMU, a trio that is a combined 13-3 in conference play, and 3-0 against Houston, Memphis and Wichita State, a trio that is 6-12 against AAC opponents. Moon Ursin leads the Green Wave in scoring, with 13.7 ppg, followed closely by Dynah Jones whon is averaging 13.2 points. Arsula Clark (11.8 ppg) and Krystal Freeman (11.1) are both averaging double figures as well. Ursin is nearly averaging a double-double, grabbing 9.4 rebounds and she is one of just three players in the country with a triple-double this season. Tulane is one of the best rebounding teams in the country, ranking 13th in the nation with 43.39 rebounds per game. The Green Wave are also 18th in the NCAA in free throws made with 260 and 34th in free throws taken, with 355. Unlike the Pirates, the Green Wave do not force many turnovers, ranking 317th in the country with just 13.56 turnovers forced per game.

Tulane holds a 19-9 lead in the all-time series between the two schools. The Green Wave took a 77-60 home win in the 2020-21 regular season finale, snapping a three-game winning streak for the Pirates in the series. However, all three of those East Carolina wins against Tulane came in Minges Coliseum. The Pirates have not won in the Devlin Fieldhouse since 2015, losing three straight in New Orleans.

Tipoff is scheduled for 4 p.m., at Avron B. Fogelman Arena in the Devlin Fieldhouse. The game will be broadcast on ESPN+ with Jack Benjamin and Tiffany Aidoo on the call and fans can follow the live stats here.

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Players Mentioned

Tylar Bennett

Tiara Chambers

Da'Ja Green

Taniyah Thompson

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