ECU women keep rolling with 81-65 win over Temple

(Note: the following is a press release from ECU Athletics)

GREENVILLE, N.C. – East Carolina Women’s Basketball Head Coach Kim McNeill earned her 100th win at the helm of the program as the Pirates defeated Temple, 81-65, on Saturday afternoon in Minges Coliseum. The win pushes the team to 5-1 in conference play for the first time since 2003-04.

During the game, senior forward Keanna Rembert also scored her 1,000^th career point. Rembert finished the game with 13 points and seven rebounds.

Temple (7-10, 1-4 American) led for much of the first half, going up by as many as six at the end of the first quarter, but ECU (13-6, 5-1 American) refused to be put away. The Pirates hung around for much of the first half, taking just a four-point deficit, 42-38, into the locker room at the break.

A large reason for the Owls’ first half success was a combination of the play of Kaylah Turner, who went for 14 points in the first 20 minutes, and the team’s success on the offensive boards where they grabbed 14 offensive rebounds for 11 second chance points in the first half.

Coming out of the half, the hosts got going After Temple briefly got back up six, the Pirates used a 7-0 run, capped by a Taylor Barner triple, to take the lead back, 52-50, with 4:46 remaining in the period. The game became a tight battle for those final nearly five minutes going into the fourth quarter, with ECU holding onto a 57-55 lead going into the final 10 minutes of action.

In the fourth, senior guard Kennedy Fauntleroy simply took over. Fauntleroy, who finished with a line of 27 points, eight assists, three steals and two blocks, went off for 13 points in the quarter. She shot 5-5 from the field, made both of her three-point shots and sank her lone free throw off of an and-one score. She was unguardable down the stretch, scoring eight of the final 12 points in the game for ECU and assisting on one of the other two baskets before Jayla Hearp put the icing on the game with a layup with 12 seconds left.

On the other side of the coin, Temple was stifled down the stretch. Where the Pirates made six of their last eight from the field, the Owls made just one of their last seven. The visitors did not make a field goal for the final 3:51 of the game. Turner scored just three points in the second half and none in the fourth.

As a team, the Pirates assisted on 20 of their 26 made field goals while working their way back to only be out rebounded by a narrow margin, 46-42, winning the battle on the glass in the second half. Four ECU players scored in double figures in the win. 

Up Next
After two games at home, the Pirates hit the road once again for a date with UTSA on Tuesday evening at 7:30 p.m. on ESPN+.

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