University of Memphis Athletics
University of Memphis
Tulane
Memphis Drops Third Straight Game, 75-63
Feb 20, 2011 | Women's Basketball
Feb. 20, 2011
Box Score
NEW ORLEANS, La. - First half foul trouble and a big Tulane (18-8, 7-6 C-USA) run to start the second half led to a 75-63 Memphis loss (18-9, 7-6 C-USA) in New Orleans, Sunday. The loss drops Memphis in to a tie for fourth in the league standings with Tulane, but puts the Tigers on the wrong end of the tiebreaker with the Green Wave. The loss makes the Tigers' two home games this week even more important, as both teams the Tigers host this week, SMU and UAB, are tied for sixth one game behind Memphis.
"I thought at times we did a good job of trapping and scrambling (Tulane) and forced tough shots, but we didn't finish the job, we didn't go get the rebounds," Head Coach Melissa McFerrin said. "We just gave up the offensive rebound. The back-breaker plays in the second half were offensive rebounds. I was pleased overall with our effort. I didn't think we were always smart in how we used that intensity in our effort and that resulted in a lot of fouls in the first half. In the first half, they basically lived at the free throw line. If we took second chance points and free throws from them in the first half, they scored about 18 points."
The Tigers were without leading scorer Brittany Carter again for a second straight game and battled first half foul troubles and a cold streak in their half court offense late in the half to trail at the break, 33-27.
"Our decisions now are to error on the conservative side in regards to players' health," McFerrin said. "You can't make a run down the stretch without being healthy. We need to get back to Memphis and get some treatment for our kids and try to get some kids healthy before Thursday. We've asked a lot of players to step up and play outside their comfort zone."
Winchell drained a three to give Memphis its first lead of the game at 5-4, but Taylor Mumphrey drew her second foul with 16:50 to play and Tulane drained two free throws to retake the lead at 6-5, setting the theme for the opening half. Memphis briefly retook the lead, but another Tiger foul turned into Tulane free throws , followed by a Tiger turnover that was turned into a bucket in the paint for a 11-7 Green Wave lead. Winchell drained another triple when her defender tried to go under a screen to retake the lead at 12-11 with 12:45 to play in the first, then found Nicole Dickson from beyond the arc to push the lead to 15-11 with 12:19 to play. But the Tigers again fouled Tulane in the paint, where the Green Wave hit one of two tries, then converted back-to-back transition buckets to pull to one down at 15-14 with 11:11 to play.
But just when Memphis seemed to have something going after a Lonlack steal and layup, Lee picked up her second foul, giving both Lee and Mumphrey two fouls and a seat on the bench with 10:40 to play in the first half. Senior post Starkitsha Luellen-Higgins came off the bench and scored four points to offset the slew of Green Wave free throw attempts at the other end, helping Memphis lead 23-19 with 6:54 to play in the first half. But Tulane tied up the game following a second Nicole Dickson offensive foul and a Tulane transition bucket. Memphis then kept getting whistled for fouls, as the pink whistles for the WBCA Pink Zone game were blown 13 times on Memphis in the opening half, compared to five for Tulane. The Tigers had six different players with two fouls in the first half, including every Memphis post player except Luellen-Higgins and Kiana James. In total, Tulane scored 15 of their first half 33 points at the stripe, while Memphis, which shot just 33.3 percent from the floor (10-of-30) relied on four first half triples, including three from Winchell, to manage to stay just six down at 33-27.
Tulane pushed the lead to double digits with a 5-0 run to open the half at 38-27, but a Mary Jackson wide open three to cut the lead to single digits. But Ellis was whistled for her third foul, the Tigers' fourth foul in their own offensive end and the second illegal screen call of the game to turn the ball over. Ellis then was whistled for her fourth foul while trying to track down a ball she had turned over, sending the senior to the bench for the remainder of the game. Brett Benzio then stuck in another offensive board to push the lead to double digits again at 40-30.
That lead stretched to as many as 22 at 55-33 off a big Tulane run when Alex Winchell heated up from beyond the three point line. Winchell knocked down three straight triples to power a 10-0 Tiger run that pushed Memphis back within 14. But Tulane called a timeout and got back on track with a quick 6-0 run to push back ahead 63-48 with a little over five minutes to play in the game.
Winchell would tie a Memphis single game record with seven three-pointers in the game and would finish with a team-high 22 points. Her seven triples also moved her past the 200 career mark at Memphis, making her just the second player in Memphis history to score 200 or more buckets from three-point range. She now trails LaTonya Johnson's mark of 207 by just six triples for the school record.
"I thought Alex had a very good game," McFerrin said. "She was very focused, she took the responsibility of needing to be a scorer on her shoulders. I've asked some players to step up and assume different roles and Alex did that. She stepped up very willingly, and that's what we expect seniors to do."
Ramses Lonlack returned to the Tiger line-up and finished with 13 points, five rebounds, three assists and a steal in 38 minutes of play. Nicole Dickson came off the bench and scored 12 points with three rebounds.
Memphis was out-rebounded 42-36 in the game and gave up 14 offensive rebounds in the loss. The Tigers finished with 18 turnovers in the loss.
Memphis will return to the Elma Roane Fieldhouse for its final two regular season home games, Thursday, against SMU at 7 p.m., and Sunday against UAB at 2 p.m.
