Tournament Record 14 Blocks Propel Pirates by Memphis, on to Quarterfinal, 65-63

Sunday, March 10

Fort Worth, Texas

1 PM ET

East Carolina University

17-13,9-9AAC

Memphis

13-17,9-9AAC

East Carolina

Memphis

Tatyana Wyche rises for the contest

Tournament Record 14 Blocks Propel Pirates by Memphis, on to Quarterfinal, 65-63

March 10, 2024 | Women's Basketball

Box Score

FORT WORTH, Texas – The East Carolina women's basketball team downed eighth-seeded Memphis, 65-63, on Sunday afternoon in Dickies Arena. Tatyana Wyche and Amiya Joyner both posted double-doubles and Danae McNeal scored 19 points in the victory.

It was Memphis (13-17, 9-9 AAC) who threw the first meaningful punch, a 13-2 run in the second quarter to turn a two-point Pirate (17-13, 9-9 AAC) lead into a nine-point deficit. The Tigers got up by as many as 10 in the first half and looked poised to take that lead into halftime before Taliyah Wyche put in a second-chance basket as time expired to give the Pirates a little momentum going into the break.

ECU would use that moment and charge back into the game, cutting the deficit to just two points just 65 seconds into the second half – an 8-0 run in just over a minute of play.

The teams battled back and forth for a while after that before a Joyner and-one bucket leveled the game at 43 and a Khia Miller jump shot put the Pirates back in front with under four minutes to play in the third.

The Pirates would go on to lead by as many as seven points in the quarter before Memphis put on a run in the final period to take the lead back just after the final media timeout. The Tigers held the lead for a couple of minutes before Tatyana Wyche, who was simply fabulous in the game, knocked in a pair of free throws to give the Pirates their final lead of the game with 2:28 remaining.

Tat. Wyche seemingly was able to grab every board and block every shot in the game, finishing with a career-high 17 rebounds and six blocks to go with 14 points as she completed her fifth double-double of the season and her fourth time with 10-plus rebounds in the last five games.

Neither team scored again until Joyner hit the first of two free throws with 3.6 remaining in the game to set the final score at 65-63.

Joyner joined Tat. Wyche with a double-double, registering 17 points and 13 rebounds and making it the second time this season in which the duo posted double-doubles in the same game. It was Joyner's sixth-consecutive double-double and 11^th of the season. Joyner also finished with three blocks in the game as the Pirates compiled an American Athletic Conference Tournament record 14 blocks as a team.

Memphis had their chances to win the game, but time and again the Pirates came up big in the clutch. Tat. Wyche had the first big play, blocking an Alasia Smith Shot with four seconds left which Joyner rebounded and was subsequently fouled – one of two key rebounds for Joyner in the final minute.

Then following the missed second free throw and Memphis calling time to advance the ball, Bobbi Smith got a hand on the Tigers' inbound pass and took it the other way to run out the clock and seal the victory.

Notable Numbers

The Pirates have won at least one game in the conference tournament in consecutive seasons for the first time since 2014-15 and 2015-16.
In all three meetings vs. Memphis this season, the team which ended up winning trailed by nine-or-more points. ECU by 9 at Memphis; Memphis by 12 at ECU; ECU by 10 on Sunday.
Tatyana Wyche finished with 17 points, 14 rebounds and 6 blocks.
- Six blocks is one shy of the AAC Tournament record and tied for eighth in a game in program history.
Amiya Joyner finished with 17 points, 13 rebounds and three blocks.
- It was Joyner's sixth-straight double-double, the most by an ECU player since at least 2009-10.
With her three blocks, Joyner moved into seventh in program history with 90 career blocks.
Danae McNeal scored 19 points and blocked two shots of her own.
- This ends McNeal's program record streak of 20-point games at nine.
McNeal has now scored 630 points on the season, second in program history.
- She moved past Kathy Riley (615, 1980-81), Rosie Thompson (621, 1977-78) and Jada Payne (625, 2015-16) in the game.
- She is 93 points away from Rosie Thompson's program record of 723 from 1978-79.
McNeal has scored 1,205 points over the last two seasons, the most since Rosie Thompson scored 1,308 across 1977-78 and 1978-79.
Khia Miller scored 10 points, grabbed four rebounds, and blocked a shot in the game.
The Pirates 14 rejections were not only an AAC Tournament record but the second-highest output in program history and most since the team went for 15 blocks against Loyola Maryland in 2014.