No. 8-Seeded Tigers Open AAC Championship With Tulane Saturday

Saturday, March 3

Uncasville, Conn.

5:00 PM

University of Memphis

Tulane

Tickets

Photo by: Joe Murphy

No. 8-Seeded Tigers Open AAC Championship With Tulane Saturday

Mar 02, 2018 | Women's Basketball

Memphis won three out of the last four games to finish the 2017-18 regular season

MEMPHIS, Tenn. – The University of Memphis women's basketball team earned the No. 8 seed in the American Athletic Conference Championship after winning three out of the final four regular season games to take on No. 9 Tulane in the first round Saturday evening. Tip-off against the Green Wave is slated for 5 p.m. CT on ESPN3 at the Mohegan Sun Arena.

GAME 30 – AAC Championship First Round
No. 8 Memphis (10-19; 5-11 AAC) vs. No. 9 Tulane (13-16; 5-11 AAC)
Tip-off: 5:00 p.m. CT?
Location: Mohegan Sun Arena – Uncasville, Conn.
Listen | Watch

The Tigers built momentum at the end of the year, culminating in an 83-78 overtime road victory against Temple on Feb. 26. It was the first-ever victory against the Owls on the road and second-straight win for the Tigers. Alana Davis and Brea Elmore led the Tigers with 23 points each and Davis posted her fourth double-double of the year by adding 12 rebounds to her final stats.

Cheyenne Creighton also had a great night on the boards, pulling down a career-high 15 to lead the Tigers. She finished with a pair of made three-pointers and 18 total points.

Tulane and Memphis have a long history with 46 total meetings to-date. The Tigers have come away victorious in the last three meetings including the first-ever series sweep during the 2016-17 conference season. All-time, Memphis is 27-19 against the Green Wave.

Heading into Saturday's game against Tulane, here are some tidbits to know about the Memphis women's basketball team:

With her double-double against Temple, Cheyenne Creighton has reached 20 double-doubles in her career. Only five other players in program history have recorded as many or more than Creighton. Creighton also is five points shy of cracking the top-20 all-time for career points. Creighton has 1,161 points to-date and Ramses Lonlack (2008-12) is 20^th with 1,166.
Brea Elmore finished the regular season leading the Tigers with a career-high 15.3 points per game. Elmore also has career-highs in made three-pointers, made field goals, minutes played, blocks, and assists.
Alana Davis is averaging 12.6 points and 8.4 rebounds in her previous five starts. After back-to-back double-doubles, Davis was named the American Athletic Conference Rookie of the Week for the first time in her career. The last time Memphis had a Rookie of the Week was Dec. 2016 when Taylor Barnes earned the recognition.
Taylor Barnes is averaging a career-high 8.5 points per game following performances of 13 points against Tulsa and 14 points at Temple. She will enter her junior season just shy of 500 career points scored.
Rebounding has been a big improvement for the Tigers as of late and it reflects in wins and losses. When the Tigers outrebound their opponents, Memphis is 9-2 this season. The Tigers also have a knack for pulling out close games, much like the overtime win at Temple, as they are 3-0 this season when the margin is five points or less.

A Look At Tulane
Tulane finished the 2017-18 conference slate with a come-from-behind win against SMU. The Green Wave trailed in the second half by double-digits and stormed back to win, 52-46. Overall, Tulane is 13-16 on the year and 5-11 in American Athletic Conference play.

Memphis and Tulane have faced off just one time this season and it was on Feb. 18 when the Tigers defeated the Green Wave in Memphis by a score of 73-60.

The Green Wave are led offensively by senior Kolby Morgan who averages just shy of 20 points per game. She finished ranked fifth in the conference in scoring this season. Harlyn Wyatt is the team's leading rebounder at 6.1 boards per game.

Lisa Stockton is in her 24^th season at the helm of the Green Wave program and is nine wins shy of eclipsing 500 Tulane victories.

Final Details
Tip-off against Tulane is slated for 5 p.m. CT at the Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Conn. The game will broadcast on ESPN3 and fans can listen to the Memphis radio broadcast on the airwaves at 91.7 FM WUMR with Jeff Brightwell on the call. For more information on the Memphis women's basketball team, follow the team on Twitter at @MemphisWBB.