Cougars prowling for
East Coast victories
Brad Sebastian
Daily Cougar Staff
The Lady Cougars (12-5, 2-2 in Conference
USA) hope to keep their winning ways on track Friday night when they take
on East Carolina
(3-13, 1-3 C-USA) in Greenville, N.C.
The Cougars, winners of their last three
games, are led by Conference USA co-player of the week Chandi Jones.
Pin Lim/The Daily Cougar
Sophomore Chandi Jones was
recently named Conference USA Player of the Week for the third time in
her career. Jones is leading the
Cougars in scoring this season.
Jones received the honor for the third
time in her career and the second time this season after averaging 21.3
points and 6.0 rebounds
over the last three games.
If Jones and her teammates are peaking,
their timing couldn't be better. The remainder of their schedule has only
conference opponents
and there isn't another contest at Hofheinz
until Feb. 8. Between now and then, there are four straight road games,
the longest such
streak of the season.
However, East Carolina may be a comfortable
start for head coach Joe Curl on this road trip. The Pirates are extremely
young, carrying
no seniors and only one junior on their
roster.
Coming off a tough loss at rival Charlotte
on Sunday, the Pirates have had limited success thus far this season.
Although ECU looks to have a bright future
on paper, the Cougars would seem to have the edge come Friday night. The
key to stopping the
Pirates could be containing speedy Ayana
Williams.
The 5-6 freshman point guard poured in
10 points and pulled down six boards in Sunday's loss. Beyond that, taking
advantage of ECU's
inexperience and playing mistake-free
basketball will be the keys for the Cougars.
After Friday's game, the Cougars will travel
to Charlotte to face the 49ers (9-8, 1-3 C-USA) at Dale F. Halton Arena,
where the 49ers
recently drew the largest crowd for women's
basketball in school history.
The 49ers, like the Cougars, seem to be
picking up steam at just the right time. They have won five of their last
six games, and first-year
head coach Katie Meier has the Charlotte
program headed in the right direction.
The Cougars will have to contend with talented
junior forward Alicia Abernathy and a stingy 49er defense to gain a victory.
Abernathy has four double-doubles on the
season, including a 14-point, 13-rebound performance Sunday.
Following the East Coast swing, the Cougars
will have a few days off before heading to Birmingham, Ala., for a match-up
with UAB on
Friday.
