Pirates Scrap Past Coppin State, 59-51

Saturday, December 2

Greenville, N.C.

2 PM

East Carolina University

4-3,0-0AAC

Coppin State

3-6,0-0MEAC

Coppin St.

East Carolina

December 02, 2023 | Women's Basketball

Box Score

GREENVILLE, N.C. - It wasn't pretty, but it may have been the "beauty is in the eye of the beholder" masterpiece that these Pirates needed as the East Carolina women's basketball team battled past Coppin State, 59-51, on Saturday afternoon in Minges Coliseum. Micah Dennis set the tone for the Pirates, finishing with 17 points, four rebounds and four assists, but more importantly a steady presence at the point in what turned out to be a hard-fought win.

Dennis got things going early, scoring 10 of the team's first 12 points, including eight points in the first 3:09 of the contest to open up a slim lead early. Coppin State (3-6) responded in a big way, going on a scorching 18-2 run from the 4:59 mark in the first quarter to the 7:50 mark of the second when ECU burned a timeout. The Eagles wound up spreading the wealth with eight players finding the basket, led by Laila Lawrence and her 11-point, nine-rebound effort.

CSU may have put the game away if not for a timely run by the Pirates (4-3) to end the first half. It was a quick 7-0 spurt and was capped by the highlight of the day: a Dennis launch from well clear of half court to beat the buzzer going into the break. It made it a two-point game and gave the Pirates life at the half.

It was the Eagles who punched first in the second half, jumping out to another five point lead after the Pirates briefly tied the game at 29. It wasn't until East Carolina found just the right lineup that the spark came, and a big part of that spark was the play of Morgan Moseley. The veteran forward does not have a huge role on the team, but she knows it and she filled it beautifully on Saturday. She scored a pair of key buckets, drew a charge, and played her part on the offensive end to a tee, allowing the Pirates to spread the floor and find easier opportunities to score.

Taking full advantage of that expanded space was Karina Gordon whose two second-half threes proved critical in the Pirates taking, then extending the lead. None bigger was her shot with 1:52 remaining which extended the lead to 56-51 and gave East Carolina the breathing room they would use to carry the game home.

In the fourth quarter, the adage came true: free throws win ballgames. The Pirates made 12 of their 14 attempts from the charity stripe in the final frame as they put together a 23-12 quarter to put it away for good.

Danae McNeal also deserves a mention. She recorded 17 points, three rebounds and five steals, three of which came in the final quarter. The guard was a key cog in the Pirates' ramped-up second-half pressure defense and her efforts sparked others as the team went on to force 11 turnovers in the fourth quarter alone. McNeal also surpassed 150 steals in a Pirate uniform and now rests at 152, knocking on the door of the top 10 in program history.

Up Next
The Pirates will host Maryland Eastern Shore on Monday in the second leg of an ECU double header in Minges Coliseum. The game is slated to tip at 6:30 p.m.