Women's basketball falls at ECU, 68-61

[PonyPride]

From SMUMustangs.com:

Three Mustangs Score In Double Figures In Loss At ECU

GREENVILLE, NC (SMU) The SMU women's basketball team fell to East Carolina 68-61 in a hard-fought contest on Saturday afternoon in Minges Coliseum.

Chantae Embry led SMU (8-10; 2-5 American Athletic Conference) with a season-high 19 points. The junior forward grabbed nine rebounds. Tiara Young reached double-digits for the 16th time this season with 17 points. Young grabbed two rebounds and added two assists, two steals, and a block. Reagan Bradley scored four points and turned in season-highs in steals with four and rebounds with eight. The graduate guard dished out three assists.

Amirah Abdur-Rahim scored 10 points and passed out a career-high four assists. The senior forward grabbed nine boards. Tamia Jones posted three rebounds, four assists, and two steals, and TK Pitts finished with four points. Jiya Perry added four points and a career-high three steals.

ECU regained its lead with seven straight points to start the final quarter. Embry fed Abdur-Rahim, who finished a layup to bring the Mustangs within one at the media timeout. Young converted a pair of free throws to give SMU a one-point lead with three and a half minutes to play. The Pirates scored a bucket and made four free throws to score six in a row down the stretch to seal the victory.

Abur-Rahim scored two straight buckets to start the second half. SMU scored seven unanswered, highlighted by a pull-up jumper from Young that gave SMU its first lead. Perry finished a layup off an inbound pass from Bradley as time expired to send the Mustangs into the fourth quarter with a 47-44 lead.

The Pirates led by five at the half. ECU jumped out to an early 11-2 lead after making three of its first four shots from behind the arc. Embry scored six points to provide an immediate spark off the bench. The Mustangs forced five turnovers over four minutes to close the quarter on a 10-0 run and tie the game at 16.

NEXT GAME
vs. Temple– Wednesday, Jan. 24– 7 p.m. CT- Moody Coliseum
TV: ESPN+

NOTES
Starters vs ECU: #0 Tamia Jones, #13 Reagan Bradley, #1 Tiara Young, #10 Maya Chandler, #23 Amirah Abdur-Rahim
Sixth time with this starting lineup, 2-4 record with this lineup
SMU scored more points in the paint than its opponent for the 10th time this season
SMU tallied more bench and second-chance points than its opponent for the sixth time this season
SMU turned in 10 plus steals for the sixth time this season
SMU tied its second most steals of the season with 14
15 vs. Air Force 12/21/23
14 at ECU 1/20/24
14 at Memphis 1/11/24
Three Mustangs scored double-digit points for the 10th time this season
SMU recorded 21 offensive rebounds to ECU's 8, and outscored the Pirates 34-12 in the paint. SMU tallied 15 second chance points to the Pirates 6, and finished with 18 more bench points
SERIES HISTORY
Saturday was the 26th meeting between SMU and ECU. The all-time series is tied at 13 apiece.
ADDITIONAL INDIVIDUAL NOTES
Chantae Embry (#33, Jr., F)
19 points, 9 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal
Scored double-digit points for the sixth time this season
Season-high 19 points
Tamia Jones (#0, Sr., G)
3 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 steals
Tiara Young (#1 Gr., G)
17 points, 2 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 block, 2 steals
Scored double-digit points for the 16th time in 18 games
Reagan Bradley (#13, Gr., G)
4 points, 8 rebounds, 3 assists, 4 steals
Made her 103rd start at SMU
Season-high four steals
Recorded three plus steals for the fourth time this season
Grabbed a season-high eight rebounds
Amirah Abdur-Rahim (#23, Sr., F)
10 points, 9 rebounds, 4 assists, 1 steal, 1 block
Scored double-digit points for the 11th time this season
Career-high four assists
TK Pitts (#2, So., G)
4 points, 1 rebound
Jiya Perry (#4, So. G)
4 points, 1 rebound, 1 assist, 3 steals
Career-high three steals