Box Score
Final Game Book 

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+
Radio: KAAM 770 AM I Audio Streaming: SMU App (Google Play | Apple App Store)

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 10^th 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 26^th 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 16^th time in 18 games

Reagan Bradley (#13, Gr., G)

• 4 points, 8 rebounds, 3 assists, 4 steals
• Made her 103^rd 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 11^th 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