No. 19 West Virginia Pulls Away From East Carolina, 79-47

Wednesday, November 23

Savannah, Ga

4:30 PM

East Carolina University

4-2

No. 19 West Virginia

5-0

West Virginia

East Carolina

No. 19 West Virginia Pulls Away From East Carolina, 79-47

November 23, 2016 | Women's Basketball

Box Score Box Score (PDF)

SAVANNAH, Ga. – East Carolina matched up against its first ranked opponent of the season Wednesday, falling 79-47 to No. 19 West Virginia at the Savannah Invitational inside MLK Arena.

Redshirt senior forward Bre McDonald, who was a member of the West Virginia program during the 2013-14 season, scored a team-high 19 points on 8-for-17 shooting from the field as well as a 2-for-2 performance beyond the arc. Graduate forward Kristen Gaffney also scored in double figures, netting 11 points. Freshman guard Dominique Claytor grabbed a squad-best seven rebounds.

The Mountaineers drained 29 of 60 field goal attempts to end up at 48.3 percent from the field while the Pirates converted 19 of 53 shots for 35.8-percent efficiency. West Virginia won the rebounding battle 41-32 and corralled 14 offensive boards which turned into 14 second chance points. The teams combined for 36 turnovers, 21 of which were committed by ECU.

Teana Muldrow paced all players with 21 points while Tynice Martin and Kristina King chipped in with 16 apiece. Muldrow added 10 rebounds to complete a double-double.

Team Records: East Carolina (4-2) | West Virginia (5-0)

HEAD COACH HEATHER MACY QUOTE
"I'm disappointed in how we finished the game. We played a lot of kids and it was good to get some of them game experience, but we did not defend the way I know we can and let them get on the offensive glass too much. Those were two keys to the basketball game. West Virginia is a really good team, but we need to regroup and get ready for tomorrow."

FIRST QUARTER
West Virginia got out in transition early, building a 10-2 lead, but East Carolina kept the Mountaineers within reach as the Pirates used a Gaffney three to spark a 7-3 run that made the score 13-9 with 4:02 left in the period. McDonald hit a triple of her own at the 3:08 mark to pull the Pirates within 15-12 before West Virginia netted four straight to take a seven-point lead with 2:15 to play. McDonald scored four of the final six points of the quarter to leave the Mountaineers in front 21-16 at the end of the stanza.

SECOND QUARTER
Both teams were unable to find the bucket in the first two minutes of the second quarter. Gaffney knocked down a jumper at the 7:52 mark to rally ECU within three, but the Pirates went on a scoring drought that lasted nearly five minutes and allowed WVU to build its lead to 19 at 37-18. East Carolina turned it around a bit in the final as a McDonald jumper and redshirt senior guard Antoinette Bannister three-pointer helped the Purple and Gold slice the Mountaineer lead to 39-25 at the break.

McDonald posted a game-high 13 points in the first 20 minutes while Martin scored 12 for WVU. The Mountaineers also enjoyed a 20-17 advantage on the glass and hit 18-for-31 from the field (.581). After nailing seven of 14 field goal attempts in the first quarter, ECU was 4-for-17 in the second period to end up at 35.5 percent.

THIRD QUARTER
West Virginia's lead reached 16 early in the third, but an old fashioned three-point play by sophomore guard Alex Frazier made the score 45-33 with 8:01 on the clock. The teams traded runs over the next three minutes, but the Mountaineers were able to stretch their lead to 21 towards the end of the frame when a Kristina King layup put the score at 62-41. Gaffney knocked in a layup with 29 ticks remaining for the final points of the quarter.

FOURTH QUARTER
A layup by redshirt senior guard Khadidja Toure cut the WVU cushion back under 20 with 7:40 to go, but another Pirate scoring drought let the Mountaineers build their advantage to 28 at the 5:06 mark. West Virginia would next six of the last eight points to provide the final margin.

UP NEXT
East Carolina closes the Savannah Invitational with a Thanksgiving Day matchup against Ball State. Tipoff is scheduled for 4:30 p.m.