University of Memphis Athletics
University of Memphis
11-10,5-5
USF
17-4, 8-1
USF Escapes @MemphisWBKB, 57-53
Jan 31, 2015 | Women's Basketball
MEMPHIS - USF (17-4, 8-1 American) out-rebounded Memphis (11-10, 5-5 American) 29-16 in the second half and that was enough to offset a career-best 30-point night from Tiger guard Ariel Hearn in a 57-53 Bulls victory Saturday night. The win clinches the series sweep for USF against the Tigers and drops Memphis from fifth to sixth in the conference standings at 5-5 in league play, just half a game ahead of East Carolina.
"We know how poorly we played at USF, we were not ready to play. Certainly tonight was a much better effort, but I'm disappointed because we had a chance to win that game," Head Coach Melissa McFerrin said. "We probably lost it in the first half with some turnovers and empty possessions and we lost it in the second half by giving them offensive rebounds and second chances. Obviously, Ariel did a lot of it by herself. We just needed one or two more players, we needed four in double figures, but we didn't have anyone else in double figures tonight. But, wow, I hate to let those get away because we had a great opportunity to win."
Memphis trailed at the half, 30-27, as both team's leading scorers took turns dominating their team's offensive possessions. Hearn led Memphis with 14 points at the break, including a trio of three-point field goals. On the USF end of the floor, Courtney Williams scored 15 points in the opening half, shooting 6-for-11 with a trio of threes of her own.
But it was in the early second half when the Bulls, who rank in the top 30 in the country with a plus-7 rebounds per game average on the season, made their presence felt on the glass. Alisia Jenkins, who had been scoreless with just three rebounds in the first 20 minutes, got her USF team cranked up, posting 11 points and grabbing 16 rebounds in the second half alone to help the Bulls dominate Memphis on the glass 29-16 in the second stanza.
"Alisia Jenkins is a monster on the glass," Melissa McFerrin said. "I sent three or four different players in there to try to get her off the glass. You just can't forget about her because she's relentless. You have one slight second of a mental lapse and all of a sudden she's got a rebound or runs down a loose ball. Courtney Williams hit some tough shots in the second half, but Alisia Jenkins is the reason they won that game."
The Tigers, who had kept the deficit to single digits for most of the second half, seemed to be unable to do better than one-and-done looks on the offensive end with USF cleaning up most of the glass down low. Jenkins scored seven straight points for USF to push a single digit lead to 12 at 53-41 with 4:34 left and it looked like the Tigers were running out of options.
But Hearn found another run, scoring eight straight points, including a pair of threes, to cut the deficit to four at 53-49 with 1:22 to play. Hearn missed a three from the corner that would have cut the gap to one and Shaleth Stringfield cleaned it up for USF, drawing the foul call and knocking down the first of four straight free-throws to stretch the Bulls' lead back to eight at 57-49 with 46 seconds to play.
"We came in with a different mentality," Ariel Hearn said. "We didn't like the way they put it on us in South Florida and we just practiced, we've been focusing on coming out with energy and a different mentality and we came out with that and just fell short. Tonight, it was my job to make plays. Coach and coach Grant told me to take my shots, so I did. Thirty points is great, but we didn't win, so it means nothing now."
Hearn and Breigha Wilder-Cochran both went at the rim in the game's waning seconds, knocking down all of their free-throw attempts, but when USF inbounded the ball with 15 seconds left, the Tigers could not manage to draw a foul call and by the time freshman guard Brea Elmore did get to a Bull, there was just 0.7 seconds left on the clock. USF missed both free-throws, but with no time left, the Tigers could only launch a full court prayer that fell short.
Hearn led all players with a career-high 30 points. Her 30-point night was the first for a Memphis player since Nicole Dickson scored 34 against Wright State back in January of 2013. She was the lone Tiger in double figures. Brianna Wright added seven points and led the Tigers with 11 rebounds.
Williams led USF with 20 points on 8-for-21 shooting. She also added nine rebounds and five steals and played the full 40 minutes. Jenkins finished with 11 points and 19 rebounds, also playing the full 40 minutes.
Memphis is on the road Wednesday at Temple, playing a noon (ET) game in Philadelphia. The Tigers are back at home Saturday, when defending national champion Connecticut comes to FedExForum for a 2:30 p.m. contest.
