Rice University
East Carolina
ECU Beats Rice 66-55
1/16/2011 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Jan. 16, 2011
Greenville, N.C. - East Carolina closed out the game on a 17 to 4 run to win 66-55 over Rice Sunday afternoon inside Minges Coliseum. The Owls are now 10-8 on the season and 2-2 in Conference USA, while the Pirates are now 7-10 on the year and 1-3 in C-USA.
Owl freshman Jessica Kuster posted her sixth double-double of the season and second in C-USA action with 16 points and 16 rebounds. The 16 boards by Kuster are her second-highest total in her young career. She had 18 rebounds in the win at Northwestern State. Brianna Hypolite added 14 points, while Morgan Mayse tallied 12.
The Owls only shot 18 percent in the second-half from the field and finished at 30 percent for the game to ECU's 43 percent for the game.
The Pirates were led in scoring by Jean Best's 17 points, while Chareya Smith scored 12 and Kim Gay added 11.
After four made Rice free throws, two each by Amenemope McKinney and Morgan Mayse gave Rice a 51-49 lead, ECU's run was jump started on a made three-pointer by Kim Gay at 4:09. A basket by Kuster then put the Owls up 53-52 (3:40), but ECU then scored the next 10 points before Hypolite made two free throws with 29 seconds left on the clock. The Pirates last eight points of the ball game came at the free throw line.
The game featured 15 lead changes, four of which came in the second half.
A layup by ECU's Ashley Clarke early in the second half gave the Pirates its biggest lead at 10 (46-36), but back-to-back three-pointers by Megan Elliott and Mayse, followed by a Mayse lay up cut the lead to two (46-44) with 12:01 to play.
In the first half, with the score tied at 12-12, Kuster poured in the Owls' next eight points to give Rice a 20-18 lead. Kuster was then subbed out and ECU countered with six straight points en route to a 10-2 run for a 28-22 margin.
Rice promptly replied with a 6-0 run of its own that was started by a trey from Hypolite, followed by a rebound put back by Kuster, and finished with a three -pointer by Morgan Mayse at the top of the key giving the Owls a 30-28 lead before ECU responded by making the last two baskets of the half.
Kuster finished the half with game-high 12 points and 9 rebounds, including three on the offensive end of the court. The Owls made 4 three-pointers in the first 20 minutes and shot 42 percent from the field, while ECU fared a little bit from the field at 42.4 percent.
The Owls are next in action when they play at UTEP on Thursday, January 20 at 8 p.m. (Central).
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