University of Memphis Athletics
University of Memphis
Southern Mississippi
Women's Basketball Comes Up Short, 73-67
Jan 29, 2006 | Women's Basketball
Jan. 29, 2006
MEMPHIS, Tenn. - Despite having all eight Lady Tigers score and with four scoring double-digits for the first time all season, the University of Memphis women's basketball team (2-17, 0-8 C-USA) came up short in the final three minutes to fall to Southern Miss, 73-67, Sunday.
"I thought our intensity was good from the beginning," Head Coach Blair Savage said. "But in the last two or three minutes we gave up three big offensive rebounds when fatigue set in and that's what got us. You have to give their kids credit. We got the shot we wanted down on their end of the floor, then they tracked down that big offensive rebound when they needed it and that made a huge difference."
The two teams played a ragged first half, giving up a combined 25 turnovers, with 14 of them coming from Memphis, including seven in the first 10 minutes. Neither team came up with many defensive stops as Southern Miss' full-court press created turnovers and gave up some Lady Tiger fast break points on the other end.
"When they wanted to press and play up-tempo we were able to get out and run some fast breaks," senior guard Tamika Butler said. "Once they got a few dead ball rebounds, that helped them slow the game down and then they got those three offensive rebounds at the end, that's what hurt us."
Down by four, 40-36, at the half, the two teams would tie seven times and neither would lead by more than six points. With the game tied at 63 all, junior Megan Gooch hit a jumper in the lane to give Memphis a 65-63 lead, but Ashley Harrell stuck back a Kristin Chaney miss to knot the game again at 65 all. USM then hit a lay-up to take a 67-65 lead before Paris Leonard helped Memphis pull into the seventh and final tie of the game with a stick-back to make it 67 all with 2:47 remaining.
But an Ashley Harrell jumper put Southern Miss up for good, as Memphis tried to foul to regain possession of the ball, sending Chaney to the line where she hit one of three attempts. Off a Chaney miss, Devin Necaise grabbed a defensive rebound and Paris Leonard was able to get off two shots, including a leaning three which did not draw a whistle. On the scrum for that offensive board, Leonard was whistled with an intentional foul, which gave the ball back to Southern Miss with less than 10 seconds remaining in the game.
Leonard finished with 16 points on 6-of-21 shooting, including an 0-for-7 stretch from three-point range, while Gooch, Butler and Necaise all added 10 points apiece. Ashley Howard led the team with seven rebounds and three steals. Ashley Boehnel led all scorers with 19 points, while Liz Biland added a double-double of 18 points and 12 rebounds. Amber Eugene rounded out the double-digit scorers with 14 points, adding seven rebounds and three steals.
Memphis will play a split conference series around the Super Bowl next week, playing at UAB, Thursday, at 7 p.m. before returning home to host UTEP, Monday night at 7 p.m.
