By Staff
ECU Sports Information
RICHMOND, Va. — The East Carolina women’s basketball team mounted a furious second half rally but it was not enough as Virginia Commonwealth took a 78-67 victory. The Lady Pirates fall to 3-1 on the season while the Rams improve to 3-1 overall.
VCU jumped out to a 5-2 lead but senior LaCoya Terry would convert on a jumper to cut the deficit to 5-4. After the Rams took an 8-4 advantage on a three-pointer by LaTavia Rorie, junior Lauren Cochran scored four straight to tie the contest. ECU would take its first lead at 13-12 on a trey by sophomore Kim Gay but VCU went on an 11-3 run to assume its largest lead of the game at 24-15. The Lady Pirates would keep it close going into the half, as they outscored the Rams, 6-4, in the last four and a half minutes to make the score 28-21 in favor of VCU.
Cochran led all East Carolina scorers with six in the first stanza while Gay pulled down six boards to pace the visiting Lady Pirates. Rorie topped the Rams in scoring with nine while D’Andra Moss grabbed a team-high four boards. ECU out-rebounded VCU 25-18 in the first interval while the Rams had the better of the shooting, converting 33.3 percent from the field as compared to just 27.3 for the Lady Pirates.
The Rams built an 11-point lead five minutes into the second half, and extended it to 15 on a Rorie layup with 13:37 left. VCU would hold that lead until East Carolina went on a 30-18 run to cut the deficit to just three, 66-63, capped off by a Terry three. However, the Lady Pirates could not complete the comeback, as the Rams broke the ECU press and held on, 77-68.
Terry and Young scored in double figures for ECU as they poured in 24 and 11, respectively. Gay produced 11 rebounds to become the first Lady Pirate to turn in double figures this season. East Carolina suffered its poorest shooting effort of the season, firing at just 33.4 percent.