Monday, December 6-Tuesday, December 7
East Carolina 75, NC Central 34
Thanks to a dominant defensive effort, the East Carolina women's basketball beat NC Central 75-34 on Monday night.
East Carolina improved to 5-5 on the season and the Pirates are 5-1 at home while NC Central drops to 0-7 this year.
East Carolina could not have asked for a better start to the game and it all started with the defense. For the first time since NCAA women's basketball switched from two halves to four quarters prior to the 2015-16 season, the Pirates pitched a shutout quarter, holding NC Central to 0-11 shooting and forcing 11 Eagle turnovers.
While the defensive effort will get the headlines, the Pirate offense also came to play in the first quarter, especially Taniyah Thompson. Thompson scored right off the opening tip and grabbed the game's first nine points. The junior guard finished with 13 points. East Carolina did a good job of sharing the ball, handing out six assists on nine field goals, with the Pirates shooting 9-of-19 (.474) from the floor and 8-of-12 (.667) from the free throw line. By the time the dust settled at the end of the quarter, ECU led 27-0.
With the large lead, the Pirates took their foot off the gas in the second quarter. Thompson had six points and Tiara Chambers added four points, with ECU outscoring NC Central 10-9 in the second to lead 37-9 at halftime.
East Carolina came out with a renewed energy in the third quarter, forcing 11 NC Central turnovers while shooting 8-of-16 from the floor. Danae McNeal had six points while Synia Johnson and Morgan Moseley had four in the quarter with ECU leading 58-24 heading into the fourth.
The Pirate defense finished with a flourish, holding NC Central to 1-of-15 shooting in the fourth quarter. Morgan Moseley had four points and four rebounds in the frame while Paige Lyons handed out three assists.
Thompson finished with a game-high 21 points to go with seven rebounds and two steals. It is her third game this season with at least 20 points. McNeal had 12 points on an efficient 5-of-9 shooting, adding three steals.
SMU 61, Delaware 55
The SMU women's basketball limited the nation's leading scorer to seven points and three Mustangs scored in double figures during a 61-55 win against Delaware Tuesday night in Moody Coliseum.
Sydne Wiggins and Kayla White each scored a game-high 17 points. Savannah Wilkinson posted her sixth double-double of the season, which she had by halftime, with 14 points and 15 rebounds, including 12 on the defensive end of the floor. For Delaware, Jasmine Dickey entered the game with an NCAA-leading 27.9 points per game. SMU held her to just seven points on 3-of-12 from the field.
SMU (4-5) made its last seven field goal attempts of the game and outscored the Blue Hens 15-5 over the last four minutes of the game for the victory. Delaware (6-3) made a 3-pointer with 4:13 left in the fourth quarter to take a 50-46 lead. Jasmine Smith answered with a 3 for SMU, just her second FG of the game, with 3:41 on the clock.
A scoreless minute went by before White stole the ball and found Wiggins for a jumper. SMU took a 51-50 lead with 2:39 to play and never trailed again. With the lead still just one, 53-52 with 1:29 remaining, Wiggins made her sixth FG of the second half. With the shot clock winding down on Delaware's next possession, SMU forced a turnover, leading to a bucket by White. The lead was now five for the Mustangs with 36 seconds left, marking the largest lead by either team at that point in the game.
The Mustangs made all four free throws in the final 22 seconds to secure the win. Delaware entered the game ranked No. 52 in the nation in scoring offense, averaging 75.5 points per game, but the SMU defense held the Blue Hens to their lowest offensive output of the season.