University of Memphis Athletics
University of Memphis
14-16
SMU
7-23
@MemphisWBKB Advances to American Quarterfinals With 71-59 Win
Mar 06, 2015 | Women's Basketball
UNCASVILLE, Conn. -- Ariel Hearn scored 10 of Memphis' (14-16) first 12 points and the Tigers took advantage of 25 SMU (7-23) turnovers in a 71-59 win in the American Athletic Conference women's basketball championship tournament, Friday.
"I think you have to credit some of our shooting 49.1 percent on the game to scoring out of our defense," Head Coach Melissa McFerrin said. "We had a really bad taste in our mouth after losing to SMU on our home floor on Monday night and our team just came out really focused and ready to play."
The 12 points in the first 10 minutes from Hearn helped Memphis jump out to a 24-11 lead by the time the game hit the 9:00 minute mark. While SMU went over five minutes with just two field goals, Memphis stretched the lead to as many as 16 four different times in the opening stanza.
But first half foul trouble for four Tigers sent the Mustangs to the line, and SMU began trimming that gap, trailing by just 10, 37-27, at the break.
Coming out in the second half, Memphis tried to build its lead back up, starting the half on an 8-2 run. But every time Memphis tried to push its lead closer to 20 points, Raven Short hit a three for the Mustangs. A Short triple with 7:46 left trimmed the Tiger lead to 62-48 and started a 10-0 Mustang run that cut the Tiger lead to single digits at 62-55 thanks to a number of Memphis turnovers against the Mustangs' half court trapping defense.
But Hearn finally found an answer, draining a three from in front of the Memphis bench to push the lead back to double-digits at 65-55 with 2:28 left. Memphis regrouped when Mooriah Rowser hit three of four free-throw attempts, and closed out the win, 71-59.
Hearn led all players with 25 points, adding four steals, four assists and two rebounds. The four assists gives her 100 on the season, giving her three straight seasons with triple digit assists, becoming just the third player in Memphis history to accomplish that feat. With her 25 points, Hearn moved to 13th on the Memphis career scoring list.
Rowser added 13 points and two assists and tied her career high with five steals. Brianna Wright posted her sixth double-double of the year, finishing with 10 points and 13 rebounds.
Short led SMU with 17 points, hitting 5-for-8 from three-point range. Destinee Hives-McCray fell just short of a double-double, with 12 points and nine rebounds, while Alicia Froling scored 10 points with eight rebounds.
Memphis advances to face No. 2 seeded USF, Saturday, at 5 p.m. (CT). That game will air on ESPN3.com with John Brickley and Katie Smith on the call.
