ECU storms back to knock off Wichita State

GREENVILLE, N.C. – The ECU women’s basketball team (12-10, 4-5) used a 30-9 scoring run in the fourth quarter to defeat Wichita State (10-13, 5-4) in Williams Arena at Minges Coliseum Tuesday night. ECU has now won two consecutive American Athletic Conference contests for the first time since 2015-16.

After trailing by 16 points with just under seven minutes to play in the third quarter the Pirates closed the quarter on a 14-9 run, cutting the Wichita State lead to 11 points. ECU would then record 30 points in the fourth quarter, marking a new ECU season-high for points in a single quarter. The Pirates converted on 10-of-11 free throws in the final frame.

ECU placed five players in double-figures scoring for the second consecutive game. Before the last two contests, ECU hadn’t had five players score in double-digits in the game since Nov. 17, 2015, versus Alcorn State.

Freshman Lashonda Monk recorded career-highs in points (19) and assists (7). Monk has now recorded a new career-high in points in back-to-back games, after scoring 15 at Cincinnati. Senior Mickayla Sanders made 4-of-5 shots from the field to finish with 13 points, including the game-tying three-pointer with 4:28 left in the fourth quarter.

Junior Alex Frazier has recorded double-digits in three-straight contests for the first time in her career. Frazier finished with 10 points on 6-of-8 shooting from the field, while also adding five assists, playing a team-high 35 minutes. Salita Greene notched her first double-double of the season with 10 points and 11 rebounds.

The Pirates recorded their third-best shooting night of the season, shooting 45.6 percent from the field.

Wichita State was led by Rangie Bessard who finished with a game-high 22 points on 21 field goal attempts. The Shockers shot 44.3 percent from the field in the game but finished shooting 3-of-15 from the field in the fourth quarter.

Coaches Comments

Heather Macy on the comeback win

“I’m really proud of this team. How much resiliency it took to finish the game, in the fashion that we did. I just don’t think that we did a nice job, the way we finished out the 2nd quarter, and the momentum shifted. I think we had to respond and that’s the thing about basketball games, is it’s a game of runs, so you just have to be tough enough to with stain runs.”

On consecutive winning

“Winning is really hard, so you can’t think about the last one and expect to do it again. What you’ve got to do is embrace the fact that winning is very, very, difficult and do the difficult things that equal winning. That’s the message that I continue to remind this team every time we take the floor.”

On winning road and home games

“My big thing is making an excuse to win, instead of finding excuses why you can’t get something done. Make the excuse to win the basketball game, and I think that’s what our team did tonight.”

Team Records

Wichita State (10-13, 5-4), ECU (12-10, 4-5)

News and Notes

• The Pirates have now surpassed last year’s conference and season win totals.

• ECU placed five players in double-figures for the second consecutive game.

• The Pirates shot 45.6 percent from the field, the third-highest percentage in a game this season.

• ECU outscored Wichita State 30-9 in the final quarter

• The Pirates are now 9-5 this season when the final margin is 10 points or less.

• ECU has now won back-to-back AAC games for the first time since 2015-16.

• Macy and ECU are now both 1-0 against Wichita State, after the first meeting between the two teams.

Up Next

ECU will take on SMU (7-14, 1-7) for the second time this season on Saturday at 5 p.m. in Williams Arena at Minges Coliseum.