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GREENVILLE, N.C. – The IUPUI women's basketball team erased a seven-point halftime deficit just three minutes into the second half, but a 9-0 and an 11-0 run ensued propelling the East Carolina Pirates to a 71-51 win over the IUPUI women's basketball team Friday night in the first game of the 2013 East Carolina Thanksgiving Classic.

IUPUI dropped to 5-2 with the loss, while East Carolina remained perfect at 6-0.

"I thought we really competed and showed some fight in the second half," head coach Austin Parkinson said. "As the half wore on, we weren't very disciplined offensively and once we lost that, they really attacked us at the other end of the floor."

Both teams struggled with turnovers with the Jags forcing ECU into 27 turnovers while committing 24 of their own. However, the Pirates hit 55.3 percent of their shots, including 41.7 percent from three, compared to IUPUI connecting on just 33.7 percent of its attempts from the floor and just 1-of-14 from behind-the-arc.

The Jags found themselves in an eight-point hole just 5:13 into the game, but the scoring hit a screeching halt as both teams went scoreless for nearly four minutes. A Nicole Rogers three ended the drought and trimmed the Jags deficit to five points, 13-8, but the Pirates were methodically able to expand their lead to 22-10 with just under seven minutes to play in the first half.

Two free throws from Akilah Sims, a lay-up from Dee-Dee Bellamy and a lay-up from Nevena Markovic cut IUPUI's deficit in half with 4:47 to play. A DeAirra Goss lay-up off a feed from Sims with 37 seconds to play brought the Jags within five as the half approached, but a Colleen Marshall jump shot with 16 seconds on the clock sent East Carolina into the half with a seven-point lead, 30-23.

It didn't take long for IUPUI to make a run as they clamped down defensively and converted some easy looks in the opening minutes of the second half to tie the score just three minutes in. Markovic, Goss, Bellamy and Shanika Maddox each converted lay-ups during that stretch igniting a 9-2 run that knotted the score at 32-32.

The Pirates regained their composure and mounted a 9-0 run of their own to reestablish a 41-32 advantage with a little more than 15 minutes remaining, but the most IUPUI would be able to trim its deficit to was seven off a Goss tip-in with 11:02 on the clock.

Nearly a minute later, East Carolina started an 11-0 spurt spanning from the 10:34 mark to the 7:12 mark that opened a 59-40 cushion. From that point, the closest IUPUI would close within was 15 and the Pirates claimed the 71-51 win.

Goss led IUPUI with 16 points and eight boards, while Bellamy chipped in a season-high nine points.

"It was nice to see DeAirra get back on the offensive glass for us," Parkinson said. "Even though she had a few turnovers, her aggressiveness on the offensive glass created some easy opportunities for us."

The Jags close out the East Carolina Thanksgiving Classic on Saturday, Nov. 30, against Cleveland State at 5 p.m.