Sunday, January 8
East Carolina 63, Tulane 53 - Box Score

GREENVILLE, N.C. - Fueled by Danae McNeal's career-high 26 points, the East Carolina women's basketball team defeated Tulane, 63-53, on Sunday in Minges Coliseum. Amiya Joyner recorded another double in the victory as the Pirates used an 11-0 run to pull away late.

East Carolina (11-5, 2-1 The American) is off to the program's best start through 16 games since 2013-14 when the team got off to a 14-2 record en route to a WNIT appearance.

The first half of Sunday's game featured and electric battle between two great scorers. Tulane (10-6, 0-3 The American) was fueled by 18 points with five made threes by Marta Galic, while the Pirates got an 18-point, five-three effort of their own from Danae McNeal. The teams were deadlocked at 20 through a quarter then went to halftime separated by only two.

McNeal would go on to finish the game with her new career-high of 26 points - and back-to-back 20-point outings - as well as a trio of steals and six made threes. The senior guard is the 11th Pirate in program history to hit six-or-more threes in a game.

The battle raged on in the second half as the teams amassed 11 lead changes and six ties on the game. After the three-point fireworks in the first half, the Pirates locked in defensively in the second, allowing only one three and holding Galic scoreless on 0-8 from the field. Still, the teams went into the fourth quarter knotted at 47.

It was in that fourth quarter that the Pirates found an advantage, ending the game on an 11-0 run over the final 6:09 of action. McNeal scored six of those 11 points while Joyner made a pair of baskets and Bobbi Smith added a free throw. Tulane turned the ball over six times in the fourth as well, scoring only six points to the Pirates' 16 for a final margin of 10. 

Speaking of Joyner, the freshman forward came alive in the second half after an abysmal first. The Farmville, N.C. native racked up 10 points and 10 boards in the final 20 minutes, playing the full 20 in the second half, en route to 12 and 12 on the day.

With her fifth-consecutive double-double, Joyner becomes the first ECU player to accomplish the feat since Rosie Thompson in 1979-80. Thompson, an East Carolina Hall of Famer whose No. 10 is retired by the program, recorded six-straight double-doubles and 16 total her senior season, en route to averaging a double-double for her career.

As a team, the Pirates recorded 21 assists on 22 made shots for a 94.5 assist percentage, the highest on the season.