ECU Opens Homestand Against Wichita State | Eastern North Carolina Now

    Publisher's Note: This post appears here courtesy of ECU Sports.

    GREENVILLE, N.C. - Returning home for a two-game homestand, the East Carolina women's basketball team will host Wichita State on Wednesday night in Minges Coliseum.

    East Carolina (8-14, 1-8 AAC) nearly pulled off a major comeback against Temple for the second time in three years. In 2019-20, ECU trailed the Owls by 17 and came all the way back for a 56-50 victory behind 23 points from Taniyah Thompson. On Sunday, the Pirates once again trailed by 17 and mounted a frantic comeback, but it came up one point short despite 29 points by Thompson. The junior guard put the team on her back in the fourth quarter, scoring 17 points in the frame. But when Thompson was sent to the free throw line with under five seconds remaining and the Pirates trailing by three, Thompson went 2-of-3, her only miss from the charity stripe in 11 tries. It was the seventh game of at least 20 points for Thompson and her 13th straight game with at least 10 points, the longest streak by a Pirate since Jada Payne went 17 straight during the 2015-16 season.

    Thompson is second in the AAC in scoring, averaging 16.9 points per game. She scored her 1,000th point at Tulane and has added 46 points since then, tying her for 22nd all-time in scoring at East Carolina. With 19 more points, Thompson will tie Gale Kerbaugh for 21st all-time. ECU is still looking for a consistent scoring supporting act that can help it reach 60 points each game, which has become a magic number for the Pirates. East Carolina is 8-0 when scoring at least 60 points, but is 0-14 when failing to reach that mark. Da'Ja Green has stepped into that role recently, averaging 13.5 points over the past four games and hitting 10 triples, with her seven points at Temple snapping a three-game streak with at least 10 points. The Pirates continue to lead the AAC in steals, with 243 and are also tops in the conference in turnovers forced (22.09) and turnover margin (+4.59).

    Wichita State (11-10, 2-6 AAC) is on a three-game losing streak since beating ECU on Jan. 25. The Shockers' latest setback was a 65-58 loss to Tulsa. Wichita Stata led by eight at halftime, but saw that lead evaporate in the third quarter as Tulsa outscored the Shockers 43-28 in the second half. Maria McCully leads the Shockers in scoring, averaging 12.0 points while Jane Asinde is second on the team in scoring (10.1 ppg) and first in rebounding (8.9 rpg). Seraphine Bastin returned against Tulsa after missing four games and the junior guard contributes all over the court, averaging 8.3 points, 7.0 rebounds and 3.8 assists. As a team, Wichita State has been one of the best rebounding squads in the country. The Shockers are first in the AAC in offensive rebounds and 13th in the nation, grabbing 15.8 boards each night. They are also 13th in the nation and second in the league in rebounds per game, grabbing 43.48. The Shockers are 72md in the country in field-goal percentage defense, allowing teams to shoot just 37.3% from the floor. Wichita State does struggle to shoot the ball, ranking 290th in the nation with just 4.2 triples each night as well as taking care of the ball, as the Shockers are ninth in the AAC, giving up the ball 355 times.

    It will be the third straight game that East Carolina will be looking for revenge. The Pirates traveled to Wichita State on Jan. 25 and led 29-28 at halftime, but was outscored 42-26 in the second half to fall 70-55. That win gave Wichita State a slight 4-3 lead in the all-time series between the two schools. Green scored a season-high 18 points in that game, hitting four triples while Thompson had 15 points. The Pirates struggled to contain Asinde and Asia Strong, allowing the two forwards to combine for 36 points while McCully added 19. The Pirates are 3-1 all-time when hosting the Shockers, including a 74-59 victory on Senior Day during the 2020-21 campaign. Thompson had 16 points in that game and is averaging 12.5 points in four games against Wichita State. The Pirates are also 0-2 this season in rematches, having lost to SMU and Temple for the second time in each of the past two games.