Tigers Women's Basketball Upsets No. 15 USF 88-87 In Overtime

Wednesday, January 20

Memphis, Tenn.

7 pm CT

University of Memphis

10-9, 4-4AAC

USF

12-5, 5-2AAC

OT 1

South Florida

Memphis

Photo by: Brandon Dill

Tigers Women's Basketball Upsets No. 15 USF 88-87 In Overtime

Jan 20, 2016 | Women's Basketball

Box Score

Hearn nets career-high 33 points, plays all 45 minutes of contest.

MEMPHIS, Tenn. – The University of Memphis women's basketball team did it again.

A little over two seasons ago, the Tigers upset No. 23 Rutgers 75-74 in overtime at the Elma Roane Fieldhouse just over a week after losing to No. 1 Connecticut at FedExForum.

Fast-forward to Wednesday and Memphis posted an 88-87 overtime upset victory over No. 15 USF at home just a week after falling to top-ranked Connecticut at the Elma Roane Fieldhouse. With the win, the Tigers improve to 10-9 overall and 4-4 in the American Athletic Conference. The Bulls fell to 12-5 overall and 5-2 in the league.

Ariel Hearn scored a career-high 33 points and grabbed 10 boards for a double-double performance that lifted Memphis to the win. She played all 45 minutes in the game. Asianna Fuqua-Bey also recorded a double-double – the eighth of her career – with 16 points and a game-high 11 rebounds.

Hearn also tied a career high with five steals and handed out six assists. Fuqua-Bey tied a career best with six assists. Brianna Wright added 12 points and seven rebounds.

In overtime, Memphis managed only one field goal, but was an unbelievable 11-of-12 from the free throw line. Hearn hit the game's last two free throws to give Memphis an 88-84 lead with :03 left. Good thing Hearn hit both free throws, as Shalethia Stringfield banked in a 40-foot three-pointer at the overtime buzzer for the 88-87 final.

Courtney Williams led USF with 22 points, eight rebounds and seven assists. Kitija Laksa added 20 points, and Stringfield scored 19 points.

After half, USF put together an early run that gave them the lead. The Bulls went on a 14-7 spurt to take a 52-45 advantage with 5:51 left in the third quarter. Laksa accounted for 12 of the 14 points with four-consecutive three-pointers.

The Tigers, though, responded with an 11-6 spurt to cut the Bulls' lead to 58-56 at the end of the third period. Hearn scored six points (three-point play, trey) in the run.

The fourth quarter went much like the third period as USF built on its slim lead, stretching a two-point lead to six at 64-58 with 6:50 left. The Bulls maintained its six-point lead at 67-61 with 5:43 left in regulation, but that's when Memphis began its comeback.

The Tigers scored the game's next six points to knot the game at 67-all. Hearn hit two jumpers, Fuqua-Bey scored on a layup. The contest was tied at 71-all with just over a minute left in regulation, but a Stringfield trey gave USF a 74-71 advantage with :59 on the clock.

A Hearn jumper sliced the lead to 74-73 with :38 left, and after Williams hit only 1-of-2 free throws at the :09 mark, Memphis had a chance to tie or win the game. After a timeout, Memphis worked the ball to Wright, whose layup tied the contest at 75-all and sent the game into overtime.

Memphis got off to a good start against the visitors from Tampa, jumping out to an 11-5 lead in the first 4:18 of the contest. The Tigers went inside early with Fuqua-Bey and Wright accounting for the first six points. Rowser then capped the spurt with a three-pointer and layup.

The Tigers held a 13-8 lead at the first-quarter media timeout, but the Bulls closed the final 4:50 of the opening period with an 8-2 run to take a 16-15 advantage and momentum into the second quarter. Three different Bulls players scored in the spurt.

The entire second quarter was close, with six lead changes and four ties. Memphis held the largest lead of the quarter at five points at 27-22 with 7:10 left before halftime. Hearn picked up her game in the second period, scoring 10 of her 12 first-half points in the game's second 10 minutes. Hearn also grabbed four of her six first-half rebounds in the second quarter. The teams went to halftime tied at 38-all.

The Tigers shot 45 percent from the field and an amazing 93.5 percent from the charity stripe. The 93.5 percent clip from the free throw line is the third-highest percentage for a game in program history. USF hit 46.2 percent from the floor and 82.4 percent from the free throw line.

Memphis dominated the glass, out-rebounding the Bulls 43-30. The Tigers had 19 assists on 27 field goals made. USF had 20 assists on 30 field goals made.

The Tigers return to action Saturday, Jan. 23 when they travel to Tulsa, Okla., to face the Golden Hurricane in an American Athletic Conference match-up. Game time is 2 p.m. (CT) from the Reynolds Center. The two teams already played an earlier encounter Jan. 10, and Tulsa pulled out a 65-59 victory at the Elma Roane Fieldhouse.