East Carolina women's basketball team defeats Cincinnati with fourth-quarter push.

East Carolina’s women’s basketball team leaves victorious 68- 57 from Cincinnati following a late fourth quarter push led by Danae McNeal.

The Cincinnati Bearcats women’s basketball team came into this game looking for their first win at home since they beat Southern Indiana on December 18th, they were against an East Carolina ranked third in the American Athletic Conference (AAC).

Despite the Bearcats leading at halftime and into the fourth quarter East Carolina became relentless and left the Bearcats in the dust.

East Carolina chipped away the Bearcats lead by making a 14-0 run in the fourth quarter leaving them with a demanding lead which ultimately led them to a victory.

Danae McNeal led the charge with 18 points on the fourth quarter, she finished the game with 30 points total.

Referring to McNeal Bearcats Coach Michelle Clark-Heard said “she’s a really good player” and “I thought we did a really good job of containing her in the first half, but you know great players are gonna get their points.”

While the Bearcats did end up losing the game, they showed they can compete with top teams in the conference. In the second quarter the Bearcats only allowed six points to be scored by East Carolina.

The Bearcats offense in the second quarter put them up 30-24 at the half, they continued scoring in the third and went into the fourth quarter leading 46-42.

In the fourth quarter the Bearcats were outscored 26-11 leading to an 11-point victory for East Carolina.

East Carolina had two players finish in double digits, Danae McNeal with 30 points and Amiya Joyner with 10 points.

The Bearcats had three players finish in double digits, Caitlyn Wilson with 16 points, Mya Jackson with 15 points and Jillian Hayes with 10 points.

Coach Michelle Clark-Heard talking about the second half said, “We changed how we were playing, we were attacking at first and getting up the floor, trying to score in transition, changing sides of the floor against the zone, you gotta reverse the basketball, we were doing all those things at first and then we kinda became stagnant in our offense.”

East Carolina’s ability to continue playing even when down showed the teams character, even after Bearcats 15-0 scoring run from about the mid-way point of second quarter and beginning of the third, they were able to recompose themselves and respond with a 14-0 scoring run in the fourth quarter to ultimately take the game.

In a pre-season coaches’ poll East Carolina was ranked last receiving only 19 votes, the next closest team received 32 votes.

Leaving Cincinnati with a 9-4 record now puts them at second in the AAC proving pre-season critics wrong. East Carolinas ability to play against the grain and continually come out on top has proven them to be a top team in the AAC. Their next game is another AAC matchup versus UCF at home on Saturday.

The Bearcats record dropped to 2-10 against AAC opponents, keeping them in last place in the conference, they play another AAC opponent at home against Tulane on Saturday.