Update: UTSA forward Cheyenne Rowe is listed as questionable to play against East Carolina, according to the player availability report. A spokesman said Rowe is ill. She is the team’s leading scorer and rebounder, averaging 12.9 points and 8.8 rebounds. Rowe has started and played all 16 games for the Roadrunners.
By Jerry Briggs
Special for The JB Replay
In the 2022-23 season, the East Carolina Lady Pirates were picked for the cellar in the American Conference women’s basketball race, and coach Kim McNeill proceeded to lead them to the NCAA tournament.
Last fall, coaches in the American pegged them in a preseason poll for a seventh-place finish.
Don’t look now, but the Lady Pirates are tied for second and challenging for the lead coming into a showdown Tuesday night in the Convocation Center against the defending conference champion UTSA Roadrunners.
Moreover, they’re incoming with one of the hottest players in the American, point guard Kennedy Fauntleroy. An Arizona State transfer, Fauntleroy is averaging 23 points and 7.7 assists in her last three games.
“They’re the leading scoring team in the conference,” UTSA coach Karen Aston said on a media zoom conference Monday. “So, start right there. They have a plethora of people that can score the basketball (and) they have a tremendous point guard (in Fauntleroy).”
Aston said the Lady Pirates are always well prepared under McNeill and also may have some intangibles working for them this season.
“I can’t speak for her by any means,” Aston said, “but they look like they have really good chemistry, and they look like they’re having fun playing the game. So, you have to start with that. We’re going to have to be really, really good on our home court.
“We’re going to have to have a sense of urgency with how we play. But, it’s not going to be easy. They turn you over and they score the ball really well. They’re one of the better teams in the conference regardless of what they were chosen.”
East Carolina averages an American-best 73.7 points and shoots 40 percent from the field. The Pirates also force 20 turnovers per game and register a league-best plus 5.68 turnover margin.
UTSA is expected to counter with the conference’s best defense, both in points and field goal percentage allowed (57.9 points and 36.8 percent).
Records
East Carolina 13-6, 5-1
UTSA 9-7, 4-1
Coming up
East Carolina at UTSA, Tuesday, 6:30 p.m.
UTSA at Memphis, Saturday, 2 p.m.
Notable
The Rice Owls lead the American women’s basketball race with a 5-0 record, followed by East Carolina and South Florida at 5-1. Tulsa and UTSA are next at 4-1.
The Lady Pirates, playing at home last week, played well in defeating Tulsa 79-48 and Temple 81-65. In the Temple game, East Carolina led by two going into the fourth quarter when the 5-foot-7 Fauntleroy exploded for 13 of her 27 points.
The native of Upper Marlboro, Md., also finished with eight assists, three steals and two blocks. Fauntleroy, who averages 13.8 a game, has exploded 21, 21 and 27 points in her last three games, respectively.
The Roadrunners traveled to play two in Florida last week. They were humbled in Tampa by the South Florida Bulls, 70-53, after trailing by 25 at halftime. In response, they routed the Florida Atlantic Owls, 79-42.
Aston said the development of sophomore forward Emilia Dannebauer has been “incredible” to watch.
After playing only 22 minutes in eight games last year, she’s already played 276 minutes in all 16 games thus far, averaging 3.6 points and 2.8 rebounds. She scored a season-high 13 points last week at South Florida.
Aston said even though Dannebauer didn’t play much last season, the 6-foot-4 native of Germany learned about the pace and physicality of the game and what she needed to do to prepare herself.
She overcame an injury last summer, got herself ready to play in the fall and then stepped in to a starter’s role when Idara Udo was hurt after 10 games.
“It’s been fun to watch her develop and gain confidence,” Aston said.