University of Memphis Athletics
Nineteen First Half Turnovers Haunt Lady Tiger Basketball
Nov 19, 2007 | Women's Basketball
Nov. 19, 2007
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OMAHA, Neb. - - Nineteen first half turnovers cost the Lady Tigers in a 90-57 loss at Creighton Monday night.
"It's hard to recover from 19 turnovers, but when they outrun us down the floor, that's just hustle and we let the frustration of turnovers dictate our effort and you can't do that, Head Coach Blair Savage-Lansden said.
Creighton came out pressing and the Lady Tigers panicked and committed 19 turnovers in the first half. That caused the Lady Tigers to suffer a stretch of almost five minutes without a field goal, beginning at the 11:31 mark when Shekeira Copeland hit a jumper until Ashley Thornton hit a field goal at the 6:42 mark. With eight different Lady Tigers with turnovers in the first half, the coaching staff struggled to find a line-up that worked, and were forced to play Alex Winchell, Jessica Hall and Ashley Thornton each 16 minutes in the opening half of the game. That helped the Bluejays score 14 points off break, and to stick back 10 offensive rebounds for 11 points.
The disruptive Blue Jay defense held the Lady Tigers to just eight first half field goals, while Creighton hit 18 of 43 tries and outscored the Memphis bench 24-4 in the opening half. The physical play inside also bothered Memphis, as the Blue Jays scored 20 of their first half 44 points in the paint.
The Bluejays just held on to the lead in the second half, as both teams were whistled for 28 combined fouls in the last stanza. Memphis looked to the bench to try to cut in to the run, but despite a career-high 12 points from freshman Shekeira Copeland, the team's lone double-digit scorer for the night.
The Lady Tigers will return home to host the 23rd Annual Lady Tiger Classic presented by Piggly Wiggly, Friday, beginning at 6 p.m., against Tennessee State. That game will be followed by the Louisiana Tech versus Northwestern State game at 8:30 p.m. Fans bringing a receipt from a Memphis-area Piggly Wiggly store dated Nov. 19th until game day both Friday and Saturday will receive free admission. The consolation and championship games will be played Saturday, with the consolation game tipping at 3:00 p.m., while the championship game will tip at 5:30 p.m.