Twenty-four hours after the men’s team sent UAB back to Birmingham with an 85-75 loss, the women’s team made a home stand against the women of UAB at the Elma Roane Fieldhouse. In a game that held the potential to place the Tigers in one of the top two positions in the league, head coach Melissa McFerrin’s squad bested the Dragons 67-56.
Prior to the game ending, news began circulating that first place ECU had fallen to Southern Mississippi giving the Tigers an opportunity to jump into first place. They did just that, hanging on down the stretch as UAB tried to “Hack-A-Shaq” their way back into the game over the final three minutes.
UAB’s star Jala Harris showed why she is the favorite to win Conference USA Newcomer of the Year by scoring 20 points (6-of-18 shooting) and four assists. The Tigers held UAB to 39.6% shooting on the game while forcing 21 turnovers, 15 of which came in the first half.
The Tigers never trailed, starting out the game on an 8-to-nothing run. For only the second time in league play, the Tigers out-rebounded their opponent. Led by Taylor Mumphrey (8) and Brittany Carter (7), the Tigers had a 40-35 rebounding advantage. Carter, the Tigers’ leading scorer, struggled from the field (4-of-13) and finished with 11 points on the night. Mumphrey made her presence known on defense, making it hard for her opponents to get the ball inside and causing match-up problems with her length. It was the Tigers’ bench that showed up in a big way on Thursday night. Both Alex Winchell and Nicole Dickson netted 16 points and brought energy off the bench for the Tigers in key stretches.
Memphis continues C-USA play Sunday at 1pm CST when they travel to Texas to take on the Houston Cougars. Memphis follows that up with two games next weekend; the first against Southern Miss on Friday at 7 p.m. CST and the second against UCF Sunday at 2 p.m. CST. Both games will both be played at Elma Roane Fieldhouse, and you can catch all three games on the FM 91.7 WUMR radio broadcast.
EXTRAS
Practically the entire men’s basketball team was on hand to cheer on the women’s team last evening. Will Coleman, DJ Stephens, Malik Thomas, Wesley Witherspoon and Drew Barham all stopped by. Former Tiger Joey Dorsey, who is in town with the Houston Rockets for a game against the Grizzlies tonight, came by the Fieldhouse as well.
For more detail, check out the game recap from GoTigersGo.com.
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