Pirates Smother Memphis 68-38

Sunday, February 13

Greenville, N.C.

1 PM

East Carolina University

10-14,3-8AAC

Memphis

13-9,4-7AAC

Memphis

East Carolina

February 13, 2022 | Women's Basketball

Box Score Box Score

GREENVILLE, N.C. – A record defensive effort helped East Carolina top Memphis 68-38 in American Athletic Conference women's basketball action Sunday afternoon inside Minges Coliseum.

ECU improves to 10-14 overall with a 3-8 AAC record while Memphis drops to 13-9 on the year with a 4-7 league record.

How It Happened

Neither team could get much separation in the first quarter, with the biggest lead being four points for each squad. Taniyah Thompson gave ECU a boost, scoring six points while a pair of triples for Memphis helped the Tigers overcome just 25.0% shooting in the first frame.
Heading into the second quarter, ECU held a slim 13-10 lead. But the Pirates defense clamped down and helped begin to stretch that lead out. A layup by Synia Johnson was the only points by either team for the first 3:20 of the quarter. Memphis finally got on the board when Emani Jefferson hit a pair of free throws, but from there the Pirates went on a run. Three points from Tylar Bennett followed by a Thompson fast break layup and then a triple from Johnson suddenly made it 23-12 ECU. The Pirates got five more points from Thompson to extend the run to 13-0 and made the score 28-12. Lanetta Williams scored with 45 seconds remaining in the half, the first field goal of the quarter for Memphis and ECU took a 28-14 lead into the break.
After shooting just 1-of-9 (.111) in the second quarter, the Memphis offense shot a comparatively blistering 5-of-11 (.455) in the third. However, the Pirate defense forced nine Tiger turnovers in the third and eight points from Thompson and five more from Johnson helped ECU extend the lead to 46-25 heading into the fourth.
With that large lead, the Pirate offense continued to heat up. Six different Pirates scored in the fourth and the team shot 8-of-13 (.615) from the floor. Thompson added five more points while Da'Ja Green, Alexsia Rose and Paige Lyons each had four.

Pirate Notes

The 38 points for Memphis were the fewest for a conference opponent since the Pirates moved to the AAC in 2014-15. The previous low was 39, also by Memphis, during the 2015-16 season and the low under head coach Kim McNeill was 42 against Tulsa in 2019-20.
Thompson finished with a game-high 26 points, her third straight game with at least 25 points and her 14th straight game in double-figures.
Johnson scored a career-high 15 points and snared a career-best four steals. It was the third start of the year for Johnson and ECU is now 3-0 when she is in the opening five (vs. Cincinnati, Wichita State)
Iycez Adams was also making her third start of the year, all in a row, and she finished with three blocks. That gives her 10 blocks in those three games, compared to five in her first 20 games.
Bennett finished with five blocks, giving her 48 on the year, which places her eighth on the single-season blocks list at East Carolina.
The four points for Memphis in the second quarter was the third time this season that the Pirates had held a team to four points or less in a quarter (first quarter vs. NC Central, second quarter at Tulane).

Synia Johnson and Coach Kim McNeill on the win

Up Next

The Pirates will have a pair of road games up next. First will be a trip to Houston on Wednesday night.