Tigers Celebrate Comeback Victory Over UCF Saturday

Saturday, January 28

Memphis, Tenn.

11:00 AM

University of Memphis

10-11, 3-5AAC

UCF

13-8, 3-5AAC

UCF

Memphis

Photo by: Matthew Smith

Tigers Celebrate Comeback Victory Over UCF Saturday

Jan 28, 2017 | Women's Basketball

Box Score

Brea Elmore leads Tigers in Play4Kay game

MEMPHIS, Tenn. – The University of Memphis women's basketball team had its second-straight come from beyond victory Saturday afternoon with a 65-59 win over UCF at the Elma Roane Fieldhouse. Saturday's game was the Play4Kay game and during halftime, the Tigers honored the late mother of junior guard Brea Elmore with a special jersey presentation. Elmore finished the team with a team-high 22 points.

The Tigers improve to 10-11 overall and 3-5 in American Athletic Conference play. The win currently bumped Memphis up to sixth in the conference standings.

How It Happened
Memphis took the early 7-2 lead over the Knights due to a hot start by Elmore. In the first four minutes of play, the Stone Mountain, Ga. native had five points for Memphis. UCF rallied, however, and tied up the game at 9-9 with 2:14 remaining in the first. The Knights were up over the Tigers as the game clock wound down, but a deep three-pointer at the buzzer by Taylor Barnes put Memphis up 14-13 over the visiting Knights.

Shooting woes plagued the Tigers in the second quarter as Memphis went just 3-for-10 from the floor. UCF went on to hit three, three-pointers in the third to ultimately outscore Memphis 17-9 and take a seven-point halftime lead.

Seven-straight points by the Tigers to open the second half forced a quick momentum shift in favor of Memphis. Taylor Williams got the Memphis run started with a three-pointer just over a minute into the quarter and Elmore backed that up with another three of her own with 7:56 left in the third.

UCF took over the lead one more time with 5:26 remaining in the third after a jumper by Zykira Lewis. Brianna Porter's lay-up with 4:56 left in the third proved to be the final lead change of the ball game.

Entering the fourth quarter, UCF cut the Tiger lead down to two, but that would be as close as it would come. With under two minutes to play, a 7-for-8 effort from the charity stripe by the Tigers put Memphis up by 10 over the Knights, helping seal the victory.

Turning Point
A pair of three-pointers by Taylor Williams and Brea Elmore to start the second half ignited a Memphis offense that scored 42 second-half points.

Notables

The victory over UCF was head coach Melissa McFerrin's 200^th career victory and 150^th victory at Memphis.
The Tigers have defeated UCF in both games this season.
Brea Elmore went 3-for-6 from the three-point line, marking 13-straight games with a made three-pointer. In that streak, Elmore has had four games with three, three-pointers.
This was Elmore's third 20+-point performance this season. She is leading the team in conference play with 14.4 points per game.
Taylor Barnes and Taylor Williams scored 17 and 15 points, respectively. Williams added three, three-pointers and Barnes had one.
The Tigers ended the game with seven made three-pointers, which matches a season-high.
After finishing the first half with 10 turnovers the Tigers committed just three in the second half.
Memphis went 20-for-23 from the charity stripe. Taylor Barnes hit all 10 of her attempts, making that the second time this season she has made at least 10 free throws.
Barnes is the first Memphis freshman in school history to go a perfect 10-for-10 from the line in a game.

Next Up For The Tigers
Memphis hits the road this week for a Jan. 31 game against SMU. Tip-off against the Mustangs is slated for 7 p.m. at Moody Coliseum. For more information on the Memphis women's basketball team, follow the Tigers on Twitter at @MemphisWBB or go online to www.gotigersgo.com.