Pirates Handle Hampton, 75-55

Wednesday, November 29

Greenville, N.C.

11 AM

East Carolina University

3-3,0-0AAC

Hampton

0-6,0-0CAA

Hampton

East Carolina

November 29, 2023 | Women's Basketball

Box Score

GREENVILLE, N.C. – The East Carolina women's basketball team defeated the Hampton Pirates, 75-55, on Wednesday in Minges Coliseum. It was Education Day and that meant thousands of screaming fans, 6,166 to be exact, just shy of the program's single-game attendance record.

The Pirates (3-3) tipped the game off with an unusual lineup on the day: Synia Johnson, who has started all six games, opened things up alongside Jade Tillman, Karina Gordon, Bobbi Smith and Taliyah Wyche. Though different from the norm, that five jumped out to a quick 7-2 lead in the game with their high-energy efforts.

Johnson proved why she got the starting nod, filling the stat sheet with four points, four rebounds, six assists and a steal on the day.

Hampton (0-6) would eventually work back into the game from their early deficit before ECU used an 11-2 run to end the first quarter to take a seven-point edge into the break.

Danae McNeal was due for a breakthrough, and as is almost always the case for her, she got it started on defense. The grad student racked up four steals in the first quarter alone, en route to seven for the game.

Wednesday was McNeal's 10^th five-plus steal performance of her East Carolina career and her second of the season. Seven steals also matched her career high, and she would finish the day with a gaudy stat line of 31 points, five rebounds and seven steals.

The Swansea, S.C. native would keep it rolling in the second half as she finally translating things to the offensive end, scoring 23 points in the second half alone and contributing bucket after bucket to the Pirates 13-0 run early in the third quarter which broke the game open for good. That spurt pushed the margin to 24 points at 49-25 and proved to be the critical moment of the game.

Amiya Joyner and Tatyana Wyche were better in the post on Wednesday, registering 11 points and seven rebounds and six points and 10 rebounds, respectively, while combining for a trio of blocked shots.

Micah Dennis led all players with seven assists in the game, all without registering a single turnover. It was Dennis' highest assisting game since dishing out 12 helpers against Houston on Feb. 22 last season.

The game would have perhaps seen a greater disparity on the final score line if not for Hampton's 24-30 clip from the foul line – the sort of proficiency which usual wins a game. But ECU shot a steady 9-11 from the stripe themselves and won the rebounding battle by 12 and the turnover battle by seven on their way to a 20-point win and snapping a testing losing streak.

Up Next
The Pirates return to Minges Coliseum on Saturday at 2 p.m. as they host Coppin State. The game will be available for streaming on ESPN+.