Jan. 20, 2012

vs.

East Carolina at SMU Jan. 22, 2012 | 1 p.m. ET Dallas, Texas (Moody Coliseum) TV: None

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GENERAL INFORMATION Date January 22, 2012 Location Dallas, Texas (Moody Coliseum) Series Count Tied, 4-4 Last Meeting East Carolina 77, SMU 70 (Feb. 17, 2011 at Greenville, N.C.) Twitter http://www.twitter.com/ecuwomenshoops EAST CAROLINA PIRATES Record 6-11 (0-4 C-USA) Ranking NR Last Game L, 66-56 vs. UTEP Head Coach Heather Macy Career Record: 137-65 East Carolina Record: 22-26 SMU MUSTANGS Record 9-8 (2-2 C-USA) Ranking NR Last Game W, 55-53 at Marshall Head Coach Rhonda Rompola Career: 375-244 SMU Record: Same

DALLAS, Texas - East Carolina returns to the road Sunday seeking its first conference win, traveling to Dallas for a matchup with SMU. Tipoff between the Pirates and Mustangs at Moody Coliseum is scheduled for 1 p.m.

ECU forged a 35-35 deadlock at halftime Wednesday against current C-USA first-place UTEP, but could not push past the Miners in the second stanza as the Pirates fell by a 66-56 count. Junior Britny Edwards posted her third double-double of the season with 10 points and 10 rebounds while Celeste Stewart dropped in a career-best 14 points.

Chareya Smith and Katie Paschal also netted double figures with 11 and 10 points, respectively. Edwards added three steals and three blocks to complement her double-double output. Additionally, freshman Janesha Ebron handed out a team and personal-high four assists while the 10 points for Paschal was her first-ever double-digit scoring effort.

UTEP rode a 62-percent shooting performance in the first half to an overall showing of 47 percent (27 of 57 from the field). Meanwhile, the Pirates shot just 26 percent in the second stanza to finish with a 37 percent clip (21-for-57).

The visitors exerted themselves on the glass, picking up 46 rebounds and limiting ECU to just 29. The Miners grabbed 19 offensive rebounds and turned them into 19 second-chance points and used a distinct size advantage to out-score East Carolina in the paint by a 40-24 count.

The Miners were able to hold the Pirates to just two points for the first 10 minutes of the second period and would take charge with an 11-2 run that ended when Tatiana Chapple scored in the paint to make it 46-39 with 10:06 on the clock. The advantage stretched back to nine when Gloria Brown hit a jumper down low, but East Carolina responded with a 7-0 run that featured six points from Chareya Smith to cut the deficit back to two at 48-46.

The Pirates stuck close and trailed by just five, 57-52, when Edwards recorded a steal and scored a layup with nearly three minutes remaining. However, UTEP scored the next five points to make its cushion double digits with just 1:37 left. Two Chareya Smith free throws sliced the Miners' advantage to six, but that was as close as ECU would come the rest of the way.

In Sunday's contest, East Carolina will have to watch out for sophomore Akil Simpson who averages 10.3 points and 7.2 rebounds per game. She nearly single-handedly willed the Mustangs to a win at Marshall in SMU's most recent outing, scoring 20 points and corralling 13 rebounds for her second-straight double-double. Alisha Filmore is also producing double figures offensively for the Mustangs, scoring at a 10.8 points per outing clip.

SMU finished the game against the Thundering Herd shooting 41.2-percent, going 1-of-22 in the second half, while Marshall shot 25.8-percent in the second half to finish with a 39.6 shooting percentage. Over the first 12 minutes of the second half, SMU held Marshall to just three field goals in 17 attempts.

The Series: SMU
East Carolina and SMU meet Sunday for the ninth time in a series that began in 2006. Each team has won four meetings but the Mustangs have taken four of the last five - including the last two at Moody Coliseum.

Looks Can Be Deceiving
ECU has dropped eight in a row, yes, but five of those contests have been decided by single digits. The Pirates have lost their four league games by an average of six points.

Finish The Job
East Carolina has had the lead or been tied at halftime in 11 of its 17 contests this season. However, the Pirates have been able to win just five of those games and have dropped five straight.

Mixing It Up
Due to injury and various other reasons, head coach Heather Macy has had to submit three different starting lineups in the last six games.

Stay In The Game
Junior Britny Edwards played 39 minutes in the contest against UAB. The last time a Pirate recorded that many minutes played in a non-overtime affair was when Allison Spivey stayed in for all 40 at Southern Miss on Feb. 4, 2010.

Guards And Rebounds
Senior guard Bryelle Smith grabbed 10 rebounds in the C-USA opener at UCF, becoming the first backcourt player to reach double figures on the glass since Ashley Clarke corralled 12 at Houston on Feb. 13, 2011.

Outworking The Nationally Ranked
The Pirates have faced nationally-ranked squads in North Carolina and Delaware the last few weeks. ECU was able to out-score the Tar Heels and Blue Hens for a half in each contest. East Carolina built a 35-32 halftime cushion against North Carolina before out-scoring Delaware 30-25 in the second half of the squads' battle in College Park, Md.

Plenty Of Time Remaining To Climb The Standings
After starting out league play at 1-3 last season, East Carolina rebounded to finish with a 9-7 league mark and finish in a tie for fourth in the league standings.

Conference USA: The 11th Season
East Carolina is in its 11th year as a basketball member of C-USA. Starting in 2001, the Pirates became eligible to compete for the league title after contributing 17 years as a constituent of the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA). The Pirates notched their first league tournament title with 79-70 triumph over Rice in the 2007 championship game at the Reynolds Center in Tulsa, Okla.

The Starting 10
It seems like the Pirate bench gets deeper with each passing season and is an extension of the starting five. East Carolina's bench has outscored its opponents' reserves in 85 of the last 110 contests.

When Making 30...
East Carolina converted 47 field goals against St. Andrew's, marking the 29th time since the start of the 2006-07 campaign that the Pirates have made 30 or more baskets in a single game.

Three Me
With five (5) three-point field goals drained against UTEP, East Carolina has made at least two triples in 59-straight games.

Up Next For East Carolina
ECU wraps up a quick two-game road jaunt by traveling to Houston on Thursday, Jan. 22, for a contest with Rice. Tipoff at Tudor Fieldhouse is scheduled for 8 p.m.