University of Memphis Athletics
University of Memphis
Central Arkansas
Lady Tigers Advance to Championship Game
Nov 25, 2006 | Women's Basketball
Nov. 25, 2006
MEMPHIS, Tenn. - Behind a season-high 25 points from senior Devin Necaise and points from 10 of the 11 Lady Tigers who played, Memphis (1-5) advanced to the championship game of the 22nd Annual Lady Tiger Classic presented by Piggly Wiggly with a 90-86 win over Central Arkansas (1-4), Friday night. Four Lady Tigers scored double-digits for the first time this season, including 12 from Paris Leonard, 11 from Aroha Jennings and 10 from freshman Alysse Davis.
"We've really been talking the last two days about finishing," head coach Blair Savage-Lansden said. "I thought we finished the first half strong. The second half, we started strong, but we didn't finish strong, we finished well enough to win, and hey, we'll take the win. But we really have to correct that against our next opponents."
Memphis came out and mixed up the offense in the first half, getting 12 points from Necaise and 10 from Davis as the duo sparked a Lady Tiger outside attack that hit 8-of-13 attempts (61.5 percent). But the Lady Tigers played catch-up for the first eight minutes of the first half, not panicking, but staying within reach of a Central Arkansas team that led by as many as seven, 11-4, at the 15:21 mark. But a pair of Se'erra Fantroy layups and an Aroha Jennings lay-up and Memphis had cut the lead to 11-10. UCA would then hit a three, which Paris Leonard would answer back and when Alysse Davis knocked down a lay-up, she gave the Lady Tigers their first lead of the game, 19-18 with 9:35 to play. The lead would change hands three more times before Necaise and Davis would knock down three shots from beyond the arc to put the Lady Tigers up 41-32. That lead would stretch one more to send the Lady Tigers in to the locker room up 46-36.
In the early minutes of the second half, the Lady Tigers would continue to build on the lead, stretching it to as many as 15 before UCA would slowly start whittling away and cutting the deficit to single digits. The lead dropped to single digits for good following a three point field goal from Lauren Williams, cutting the Memphis lead to 82-73 with 4:43 remaining in the game. UCA would manage to push Memphis in to an up-and-down pace late in the second half, and when a Lady Tiger turnover was converted in to a lay-up at the other end of the floor, Memphis found itself up just 84-82 with 28 seconds to play. Memphis would pull a head, 88-84, following a pair of Fantroy free-throws, but UCA's Sharece Love hit a lay-up to again pull within two at 88-86 with six seconds to play. But freshman point guard Jazmyn Green shut the door on the UCA comeback hopes, converting two free-throws with five seconds remaining in the game to power the Lady Tigers to the 90-86 victory.
"Free-throws were huge in this win. Jazmyn Green hit some big free throws in the game, Paris (Leonard) hit some big free throws in the middle of the second half, Se'erra Fantroy hit some big free-throws late, everyone hit their shots," Savage said. "We've talked about taking those opportunities when they are at the line, finishing those plays."
The Lady Tigers had their most balanced effort of the season, with the four double-digit scorers. Four Lady Tigers also had five or more rebounds in the win, led by seven from Fantroy and Jennings, and six from Ashley Thornton. Megan Gooch had her best rebounding night of the season with five defensive rebounds, adding four points, two assists and a team-high two blocks.
Memphis will face Lipscomb in the championship game, after the Lady Bisons came back from a 30-22 half time deficit to defeat Austin Peay in the night's second game. The championship game will tip 30 minutes following the completion of the consolation round game featuring Austin Peay and Central Arkansas. That game begins at 3 p.m. in the Elma Roane Fieldhouse.
