Thursday, November 18
East Carolina 75, Hampton 58
Another strong second half helped the East Carolina race to a 75-58 victory over Hampton in front of over 2,500 fans in Minges Coliseum.
ECU improves to 2-2 on the season while Hampton drops to 1-3.
The Pirates got off to a slow start offensively, shooting just 4-of-15 (.267) from the field and turning the ball over six times in the opening 10 minutes. Hampton jumped out to a 6-0 lead, but a pair of free throws from both Danae McNeal and Alexsia Rose as well as a triple by Da'Ja Green helped ECU claw back to take its first lead at 13-12. Hampton added a free throw to make it 13-13 after one quarter.
While ECU still shot under 37% in the second quarter, the Pirates began to turn Hampton over which led to easy baskets. The Purple and Gold scored nine points off nine Hampton turnovers in the second quarter. Rose was a big part of that effort, grabbing four steals and handing out three assists. When ECU was forced to operate in the half court, Tiara Chambers stepped up, shooting 3-of-4 (.750) and scoring six points in the frame. That helped ECU take a 30-24 lead into the locker room.
For the second straight game, the Pirates roared out of the halftime break to take a healthy lead. ECU outscored Hampton 28-18 in the third, mainly through 11 points off Hampton turnovers. The Pirates shot 9-of-15 (.600) from the field, including 5-of-7 (.714) from three. Taniyah Thompson made three triples in the quarter on her way to 10 points while Green and Synia Johnson each had a make from beyond the arc. The East Carolina lead extended to 58-42 heading into the fourt.
Five straight points from Raven Johnson extended the ECU lead to 63-44 with 8:39 remaining and it looked like ECU would cruise to the win. But Hampton answered with a 12-2 run to cut the lead to single digits with 3:24 remaining.
Thompson stepped up for ECU to salt the game away. The junior guard buried her fourth three-pointer of the game and added a layup to push the lead back to 14. After a pair of free throws by Green, Thompson capped the 9-0 ECU run with another layup allowing the Pirates to comfortably close out the victory.
For the third time in four games, Thompson led the Pirates in scoring, just missing her third straight 20-point game as she finished with 19 points.
Tiara Chambers and Da'Ja Green had their first double-digit scoring games of the season, with Chambers finishing with 11 points while Green had 10. Raven Johnson was in double-figures for the second straight game with 10 points of her own.
Little Rock 55, Memphis 50
It was a defensive battle from the jump as the Tigers (2-1) took their first road trip to Little Rock (3-1) to face-off with the Trojans. While Memphis made a comeback, and even took the lead in the second half, late free throws from Little Rock would push them past Memphis and hand the Tigers their first loss of the season with a final score of 55-50.
The Memphis offense got off to a slow start, scoring just seven points in the opening frame of play.
It was a different story in the second quarter; after looking at a 13-7 deficit, Memphis opened with back-to-back baskets from Jamirah Shutes to cut the Trojans led to just one.
Little Rock would continue to push the ball, getting 10 of their first 20 points from leading scorer Sali Kourouma.
Memphis would take their first lead of the game with 4:32 left in the first half when Madison Griggs drained a three-pointer with a Little Rock defender in her face. After the Trojans tied the game for the fourth time, Jatyjia Jones drained the Tigers second three-pointer of the game from the corner to give Memphis the 24-21 lead.
The Trojan defense would hold the Tiger offense scoreless in the final two minutes of the half and go into halftime looking at a 26-24 game.
It was a back-and-forth game to open the third quarter. The Tigers would get consecutive buckets from Davis and another long range three-pointer from Griggs to push Memphis' lead out to 31-28. Kourouma, who led the Trojans in scoring tonight, would add in a short jumper in the paint and a three-pointer to tie the game once again.
The Tigers offense got a spark to end the third quarter after Jones made her second three-pointer of the game and Shutes drained two free throws with one second left to put Memphis up 44-41 heading into the final 10 minutes of play.
Memphis would get their largest lead of the game with 7:35 left after Emani Jefferson sank two free-throws and extended their leaded out to 47-41. Little Rock would fight their way back and tie the game at 49-49 with less than three minutes left to play.
Little Rock's offense would get a push late in the game that put them up 53-49 with 24 seconds left in the game. Memphis would try to stage a comeback, but late free throws from the Trojans would secure them the 55-50 win.
Alana Davis led the team with 10 points and eight rebounds while Jefferson and Shutes added in nine points, each.