By Staff
ECU Sports Information
ORLANDO, Fla. — The East Carolina women’s basketball team fell for the fourth time in as many Conference USA road contests, this time at UCF on Thursday inside the UCF Arena. The Lady Pirates fall to 12-8 overall and 3-4 in C-USA while the Knights improve to 7-13 on their campaign.
LaCoya Terry put ECU ahead 2-0, converting a layup at the 19:07 mark. The Lady Pirates would then stretch their advatage to 9-4 when Gabriela Husarova connected on a trey with 16:27 left in the period. However, UCF took control, using a 17-6 run over the next six minutes to take a 21-15 lead.
The advantage would only grow from there, as the Knights scored 11 of the next 16 points to take their largest lead of the game at 32-17. East Carolina chipped into the deficit, pulling within eight at the break.
UCF held the decided advantage from the field in the first half, torching the nets to the tune of 55.2 percent, while the Lady Pirates hit 40 percent of their attempts.
The Knights also enjoyed the advantage on the glass, 17-13. Terry paced ECU in the stanza, netting nine points on 4-for-9 efficiency, while Chelsie Wiley poured in 14 for UCF.
The Knights extended their lead back to 13 at the 17:36 mark, but the Lady Pirates methodically sliced the deficit, pulling within five points multiple times, the last time with 9:46 remaining in the game. East Carolina would then find itself just one down, when Allison Spivey drilled a three-pointer to make the score 60-59 at 8:04. The Lady Pirates could not complete the comeback, however, as UCF held them at arm’s length and made free throws, taking the 11-point victory.
Freshman Crystal Wilson scored a career-high 10 on the night while Jasmine Young led four East Carolina players in double figures with 16. The Knights finished with the advantage in field goal percentage (49.2-45.5) while also enjoying a 33-29 margin on the glass.
The Lady Pirates return to the court on Saturday, traveling to Hattiesburg, Miss. for a 5 p.m. tip with Southern Miss inside Reed Green Coliseum.