ECU Wire Services

GREENVILLE, N.C. – The East Carolina women’s basketball team will head to Birmingham, Ala., for a Conference USA match up at UAB on Saturday, Feb. 8, at 3 p.m. ET.

The Pirates and the Blazers will meet for the 25th time in program history. East Carolina leads the all-time series 14-10. Last season the conference foes split a pair of games as UAB defeated ECU, 62-58, in Birmingham, Ala., on Feb. 10, 2013, before the Pirates held off the Blazers, 53-52, in Greenville, N.C., on Feb. 28, 2013.

East Carolina has won six of its last seven games and 11 of its last 13 to compile a 19-3 overall record and a 7-2 Conference USA ledger to rank second in league standings

ECU is a defensively strong team as the Pirates are leading the conference in field goal percent defense (35.1), three-point field goal percent defense (25.2), rebounding defense (35.6), blocked shots per game (5.3), and steals per game (11.1). The Pirates’ steals per game average is good for ninth in the nation, while their three-point field goal percent defense ranks eighth. Offensively, East Carolina is shooting 42.1-percent to rank third in C-USA. The Pirates are averaging 73.5 points per game, while limiting their opponents to 59.9 for a scoring margin of +13.6 which ranks second in the league and 23rd in the NCAA. The Pirates are out-rebounding their counterparts 43.5 – 35.6 for a league-leading rebounding margin of +7.9 which also is good for 27th in the nation.

Redshirt sophomore forward Jada Payne is the squad’s leading scorer as she averages 19.9 points per game to rank fourth in C-USA and 32nd in the nation. She is tied for first on the team in rebounding with an average of 7.3 boards per contest. Payne’s three-point field goal percentage of 41.2 leads Conference USA, while her free throw percentage of 85.8 is good for sixth. Redshirt junior guard Abria Trice is the Pirates’ second leading scorer with 16.7 points per game to rank eighth in the league. Trice also adds 4.8 rebounds per game, a team-high 37 steals, 29 assists, and 14 blocks. Redshirt junior post Ondrea Shaw leads East Carolina with 69 blocks to rank second in the ECU single-season record book. Her average of 3.1 blocks per game leads the conference and ranks her 11th in the nation.

UAB is coming off of a 94-91 overtime victory at Florida Atlantic and the Blazers own a 12-9 overall record and are 4-4 in Conference USA.

As a team, UAB is shooting 42.3-percent, while averaging 67.6 points per game. The Blazers average 4.8 blocked shots per game to rank second in the league, trailing only East Carolina. UAB leads the conference in defensive rebounds as the Blazers average 28.7 per game and their defensive rebounds percentage of 68.7 also sets the league standard. UAB averages 40.6 rebounds per game to go along with 12.8 assists per contest and 6.5 steals per game.

The Blazers have three double-figure scorers in Karisma Chapman (19.4 points per game), Ashley Grimes (14.9 points per game), and Chelsee Black (14.4 points per game). Chapman’s scoring average ranks her sixth in C-USA, while her team-leading 9.1 rebounds per game average is also good for sixth in the league. Additionally, Chapman contributes 35 steals, 58 assists and 20 blocks. Grimes averages 4.7 rebounds per contest to go along with a team-best 66 assists, a team-leading 42 steals, and 20 blocks. Black adds 4.5 boards per game, 63 assists, and 22 steals for the Blazers.

Live stats will be available on ECUPirates.com.