The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
UAB Welcomes East Carolina on Thursday
2/24/2010 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Feb. 24, 2010
UAB-East Carolina Game Notes | Gametracker | Watch
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. -- The UAB women's basketball team returns home on Thursday to host the East Carolina Lady Pirates at 7 p.m. CST.
East Carolina leads the overall series, 11-6, and won the last meeting, 78-74, in overtime on Jan. 28 in Greenville, N.C. The win marked the fifth in a row for the Lady Pirates over the Blazers.
Prior to the January meeting, ECU swept UAB in three games last season. The Lady Pirates won, 73-59, in the C-USA tournament on March 5, 70-60, on Feb. 22 at Bartow Arena and, 70-64, on Jan. 24 in Greenville.
UAB's last win against ECU was an 84-77 overtime victory in January of 2008 in Birmingham. The series is even at 3-3 when the two teams have met in Bartow Arena.
The Blazers (11-14, 5-8 C-USA) have dropped eight of their last nine, including a 64-56 loss at Tulane on Saturday and a 68-59 loss at UTEP last Thursday. Although UAB has struggled lately, the Blazers have won five of their last seven at Bartow Arena.
Freshman guard Jala Harris leads the Green and Gold with 16.9 points a game, while senior forward Tamika Dukes and junior guard Amanda Peterson are also averaging double digits at 12.6 points and 10.2, respectively. Dukes also leads the team with 6.8 rebounds a game, while Peterson has been the team's leading 3-point shooter at 40.1 percent.
The Lady Pirates (18-8, 7-6 C-USA) have struggled since opening conference play 4-0, having dropped four of their last five. East Carolina is coming off back-to-back home losses to Tulsa (61-57) and Tulane (56-51). The Lady Pirates are 1-4 in C-USA road games this season, with their last win coming at Houston, a 94-87 overtime victory, on Jan. 15.
Guard Ashley Clarke leads the way for ECU, averaging 12.0 points a game, while guard Allison Spivey isn't far behind with 11.0 points a game. Spivey has also been hot from beyond the arc, shooting 85 percent to lead the team.
As a team, the Lady Pirates top the conference in league-only games with a 44.7 shooting percentage and 41.3 3-point shooting percentage. The ECU defense is allowing opponents to shoot just 36.7 percent, also the best in league play.
