ECU Hosts South Florida On Senior Day

Game 27: South Florida (20-7, 10-3 AAC) at East Carolina (11-15, 4-9 AAC)
The Game	February 27 \\\ 1 p.m. \\\ Live Stats \\\ Watch Live
Venue	Minges Coliseum (Greenville, N.C.)
2021-22 Statistics	East Carolina \| South Florida
Information	Tickets \| ECU Notes
Social Media	Twitter \\\ Instagram \\\ TikTok \\\ #OnePirateNation

GREENVILLE, N.C. – Just one home game remains on the slate as the East Carolina women's basketball team hosts South Florida on Sunday afternoon. The game will be the team's Senior Day along with its Black History Game.

East Carolina (11-15, 4-9 AAC) had its last game cancelled due to weather as Tulsa could not make it to Greenville due to weather in the area. The Pirates will now go a week between games as they are coming off a 68-57 win at Cincinnati. The Pirates took an 18-6 lead after one quarter and a 40-24 lead at halftime, but that margin was eventually whittled down to just two in the fourth quarter. It was no surprise that Taniyah Thompson stepped up to can a jumper at that moment to give ECU some breathing room and eventually help the Pirates pull away. Thompson finished with 22 points, her fifth straight game with at least 20 points and her 17th straight game with at least 10 points. Both streaks are the longest by a Pirate since Jada Payne did both in the 2014-15 season. Thompson had some help on the offensive end, as Da'Ja Green finished with 14 points and Synia Johnson added 12.

Thompson is now the leading scorer in the AAC, averaging 18.3 points per game. The junior guard is now up to 1,151 points in her career, ranking her 18th all-time in scoring at ECU, one point behind Sheilah Cotten for 17th all-time. Thompson also has an outside chance of cracking the top-10 in single-season scoring average. Jada Payne averaged 18.4 points in 2013-14 to place tenth in ECU history while LaCoya Terry scored 541 points in 2008-09 to rank tenth in single season points. One player who is already in the single-season top-10 is Tylar Bennett. The graduate transfer from Clemson has already set the ECU record for blocks in AAC games, with 39 blocks in 13 conference games and she leads the league with 52 blocks overall. Those 52 rejections place her sixth on the ECU single-season top-10 and needs two more to pass Ondrea Shaw for fifth place.

Prior to the game against South Florida, the Pirates will honor the team's four seniors as well as the team's two senior managers. Green, Bennett, Raven Johnson and Tiara Chambers will be playing their final game inside Minges Coliseum while managers Laquon Rasberry and TJ Joyner will also be honored.

South Florida (20-7, 10-3 AAC) is coming off a two-game sweep of Wichita State, beating the Shockers 61-57 at home before taking a 47-46 victory in Kansas which saw Elisa Pinzan hit the game-winning free throw with 1.5 seconds left in the game. The Bulls are currently second in the AAC standings, with all three losses coming to either the team above them (UCF) or the team directly below them (Tulane). Elena Tsineke leads the team in scoring (13.9 ppg), one of three Bulls averaging at least 10 points. Dulcy Mendijadeu-Fankam scores 11.1 points and grabs 7.4 boards, while Bethy Mununga pours in 10.9 points and hauls in a league-best 11.4 rebounds. Elisa Pinzan leads the AAC in assist to turnover ratio (2.31) and is second in assists, averaging 5.4 per game. Teams have struggled to shoot against South Florida, as the Bulls lead the league in three-point field goal defense (27.8%) and are second in overall field-goal defense (38.6%). That has led to the a scoring defense ranked second in the AAC and 15th in the country, allowing just 54.3 points. Finally, the Bulls are one of the best rebounding teams in the nation, ranking 23rd in rebounding margin at +7.3 per game.

South Florida has dominated the recent portion of the series between the two schools, winning nine straight and has taken an 11-6 lead in the all-time series. The last time the Pirates got the better of the Bulls was when ECU upset then No. 25 South Florida 65-64 inside Minges Coliseum on Feb. 15, 2015. The two teams have not played in Greenville since 2019, with the last two meetings coming in Tampa, Fla. East Carolina is 3-4 all-time when hosting South Florida, although that number is just 1-3 since the two programs started competing in the American. South Florida will be the first ECU opponent this season that will be receiving votes in either of the national top-25 polls, as the Bulls are receiving votes in the USA Today/WBCA Top-25, although Central Florida, who was unranked when the Pirates played the Knights in January, has since moved to No. 25 in the same poll. The last victory over a ranked opponent for East Carolina was that victory over South Florida in 2015.

Tipoff is scheduled for 1 p.m., on Sunday afternoon with the Senior Day ceremony taking place right before tipoff. The game will be broadcast on ESPN+ with Dennis Cox and Mack McCarthy on the call and fans can follow the live stats here.

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Players Mentioned

Tylar Bennett

Tiara Chambers

Da'Ja Green

Raven Johnson

Synia Johnson

Taniyah Thompson

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