FORT WORTH, Texas – The East Carolina women’s basketball team defeated the second-seeded Memphis Tigers, 69-60, in the AAC Tournament semifinal round on Wednesday evening in Dickies Arena.
 
The game followed a similar script to the quarterfinal round as East Carolina (22-9) jumped out to an early lead, taking a six-point advantage and leading by as many as 10 in the third quarter before Memphis (20-10) roared back to level the game at 43 going into the final quarter.
 
The Pirates responded, though, en route to leading for 37 minutes and 33 seconds of game time. It was still a tight game when Micah Dennis, as she has several times before, drained a clutch three-point shot to extend the lead to six with five minutes remaining in the game.
 
Memphis would not draw closer than six the rest of the way as the Pirates expanded the lead to as many as 11 in the final minutes to clinch their berth in the Title Game.
 
Danae McNeal led all scorers in the game with 22 while Dennis added 17 with two threes for the second-straight game. Amiya Joyner was limited to six points and nine boards but added six assists and a quartet of blocks to make her mark on the game.
 
Synia Johnson proved her captaincy and served as the team’s rock once again on Wednesday, scoring 13 points while adding six rebounds, two assists and two steals.
 
The Pirates hit a couple of milestones in the game with McNeal moving into sole possession of ninth in single-season scoring in program history and Joyner moving into the top 10 in freshman assists and sole possession of third in freshman blocks.
 
Up Next
The Pirates will meet four-seed Houston Thursday night at 9 ET/8 CT with a trip to the Big Dance on the line. The game will be broadcast nationally on ESPNU.