ECU Sports Information has released details on the women’s basketball team and its win over Illinois State in Thursday’s Coliseo Guillermo game in Puerto Rico.
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Photo credit: (ECU Sports Information)
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico – The East Carolina women’s basketball team defeated Illinois State, 73-66, on Thursday morning in the Coliseo Guillermo Angulo. The Pirates were led by an impressive do-it-all outing from Kennedy Fauntleroy.
After holding Illinois State (4-3) scoreless for the first 3:48 of the game, the Pirates (3-4) struggled a bit to get going. They went on to trail by as many as 10 points at 39-29 in the third quarter, but when they finally came alive, the really came alive.
Both teams shot the ball well, both over 40 percent from the floor in the first half as they entire margin could be equated to the Redbirds’ seven second-chance points. It was a 31-24 margin at the break.
But in the third, ECU used a 9-0 run, and an extended 12-2 burst, to cut the margin to just one. Fauntleroy, who was awesome in the game, scored five in that stretch. The senior guard flirted with a triple double and finished the game with a line of 17 points, eight assists, six steals and four rebounds. Her assist and rebounding totals bested her season highs while the steals mark tied her previous best.
The Pirates finally took the lead back with another 6-0 burst, jumping in front on a Savannah Brooks triple at the 2:44 mark of the third. Brooks hit a pair of threes in the game and came alive with 13 of her 15 points coming after halftime.
Another player with her fingerprints on the comeback was Taylor Barner who hit a pair of timely threes in the second half as well.
After a host of lead changes and ties—two and three in the fourth quarter alone, respectively—the Pirates finally used a 7-0 spurt in the fourth to open up their largest lead of the game in the fourth quarter at 65-58. The margin largely remained in that range until the finally minute when Illinois State used a few three-point shots to get as near as two points in the final minute, but free throws from Fauntleroy and Anzhané Hutton helped ice the result.
ECU wound up shooting 54.5 percent (6-11) from the field in the fourth quarter while hitting nearly 85 percent (11-13) from the foul line. Brooks and Fauntleroy each contributed eight points in the final frame.
Up Next
The Pirates run it back at 12:30 p.m. ET Friday as they take on Hofstra, also on FloCollege.