Rebounding Costs ECU Against South Florida

Sunday, February 27

Greenville, N.C.

1 PM

East Carolina University

11-16,4-10AAC

USF

21-7,11-3AAC

South Fla.

East Carolina

February 27, 2022 | Women's Basketball

Box Score Box Score

GREENVILLE, N.C. – Rebounding was the difference as the East Carolina women's basketball team fell to South Florida 68-60 on Senior Day in Minges Coliseum.

East Carolina drops to 11-16 overall with a 4-10 league mark while South Florida improves to 21-7 and 11-3 in the AAC.

How It Happened

Neither team shot the ball well in the opening frame. Early on though, South Florida was able to clean up its misses to get second chance points. The Bulls jumped out to a 14-4 lead on a triple by Maria Alvarez. But the Pirates did not allow themselves to get any further behind, getting an old fashioned three point play from Taniyah Thompson and a free throw by Iycez Adams to cut the lead to 14-8 after one.
The Pirates opened the second quarter with six straight points to get level once again. The two teams went back and forth through the middle of the frame, with the Pirates never being able to take the lead while South Florida could not build a lead bigger than five. Thompson led the way for ECU, scoring nine points on a perfect 4-of-4 shooting. That helped ECU trail just 30-27 at the halftime break.
Thompson continued to score from all over the court in the third quarter. The junior guard opened the half with a pair of free throws and then canned a triple to give ECU its first lead of the day at 32-30. After South Florida scored to tie the game again, Thompson hit a pull-up jumper, giving her seven straight points for ECU.
Thompson would not score the rest of the quarter though, while South Florida finished the third quarter on a 13-7 run behind six points and seven rebounds by Dulcy Mendijadeu Fankam. That put South Florida ahead 45-41 heading into the fourth.
In the fourth quarter, South Florida kept just in front of East Carolina. The Bulls opened the quarter with a triple, but Thompson got a three-point play followed by a putback from Morgan Moseley to cut the deficit to two. The pattern continued, as South Florida pushed the lead back to nine. But ECU got five points from Thompson and a pair of free throws from Da'Ja Green cut the lead to three with 1:29 remaining. Unfortunately Mendijadeu Fankam got a layup on the next possession and the Bulls went 6-of-6 at the free throw line down the stretch to hold on to the lead.

Pirate Notes

Thompson finished with 29 points, her sixth straight game of at least 20 points and her 18th straight game in double figures. She is now averaging 18.7 points, leading the American.
Danae McNeal returned after a 13-game absence due to injury. She finished with five points, two rebounds and two blocks.
Green had 10 points, her third straight game in double figures and tenth overall.
Prior to the game, the Pirates honored their four seniors, which included Green, Tylar Bennett, Tiara Chambers and Raven Johnson.
Chambers blocked a shot to move into sole possession of eighth in career blocks at East Carolina, with 77 rejections.
South Florida finished with a 47-31 lead on the boards, including 19-12 in offensive rebounds and 13-9 in second chance points.

Kim McNeill on the game

Up Next

The Pirates will close the regular season at Memphis on Wednesday night. Tipoff for that game is scheduled for 8 p.m.