University of Memphis Athletics
Lady Tigers to Close Non-Conference Play Friday Versus Toledo
Jan 03, 2008 | Women's Basketball
Jan. 3, 2008
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The University of Memphis Lady Tigers will step on the floor one more time before opening Conference USA play, when Memphis hosts Toledo, Friday, at 7 p.m. in FedExForum. That game marks one of just two Memphis games to be played in FedExForum for the Lady Tigers, who last year faced UT Martin and Tulane in the downtown arena.
Toledo comes in on the heels of wins in five of their last eight games, including two straight wins over Central Arkansas and Maine in the Miami (FL) Holiday Classic after returning from the holiday break.
Memphis comes in following an overtime loss, 99-97, to UA Pine Bluff in their first game back from the break.
Junior guard Paris Leonard bounced back from a scoreless outing in the championship game of the Florida Gulf Coast tournament to scored 22 points, putting her at the 700-point mark for her career. Leonard needs to score just 38 more points to surpass her entire point total from last season, and Memphis still has the entire conference slate ahead of it following the Toledo contest.
The Toledo roster contains five seniors, but its sophomore forward Allie Clifton who is leading the team in scoring, averaging 16.5 point sand 8.1 rebounds per game. Clifton, the tournament MVP at the Miami tournament, is also tied for second with 16 steals and 24 assists so far this season. Senior forward Tamesha Scotton is next on the scoring chart, averaging just under a double-double of 9.5 points and 7.5 rebounds per game. The frontline is one of the more productive ones Memphis will have seen this season, with the addition of sophomore forward Lisa Johnson. Johnson averages 6.3 rebounds and 6.2 points a night. Between the three of them, the trio has corralled 100 of Toledo's 161 offensive rebounds so far this season (62.1 percent) and 240 of the team's 428 rebounds (56.1 percent), so finding them and putting a body on them will likely be a huge part of Memphis' game planning.
On the outside, freshman Amber Heistan leads the team with 12 three-point field goals made, the lone Rocket to connect on three-point field goals more than once per game through the first 11 games of the season. As a team, Toledo hits 25.5 percent from beyond the arc. At the point, senior Nacole Stocks leads the team with 39 assists against 35 turnovers, adding 15 steals and 5.8 points per game.
After having four double-digit scorers early on this season, Memphis now has Paris Leonard leading a trio of double-digit scorers. The Lady Tiger offense is averaging 70.3 points per game, but is going up against a Toledo team that gives up just 61.2 points a night, while scoring 62.3 points per game. Ashley Thornton is next with 12.4 ppg, while Jessica Hall averages 11.6 ppg.
Memphis vs. Toledo
This is the first-ever meeting between Memphis and Toledo. Toledo Head Coach Mark Ehlen is in his 13th season at the helm of the Rocket program, sporting a 232-138 mark overall and ranking second in the Mid-American Conference in conference games won. The Rockets have gone to four NCAA Tournaments under Ehlen (1996, 1997, 1999, 2001) and two WNITs (1998, 2003).
Leonard Hits 700 Point Mark
With one non-conference game left on the slate, junior guard Paris Leonard bounced back from a scoreless performance in the championship game of the Florida Gulf Coast tournament with a 22-point effort in the overtime loss to UA Pine Bluff. That 22 point performance pushed her to 700 points in 64 career games. The 700 career points puts Leonard 32nd on the all-time Memphis scoring charts. She needs 15 points to catch Rhonda Lauderdale (1984-88) for 31st all-time. She also needs just another 100 points to pass former Lady Tiger assistant coach Jennifer Sullivan, who sits 25th on the all-time scoring list.
Hall Heating Back Up
Redshirt junior guard Jessica Hall has scored double-digit points in four of the last five games, including a season-high 19 points in the loss to UAPB. Her one exception to the double-digit outings was eight points in the win over Loyola-Chicago. She has also had steals in three straight games heading in to the Toledo contest, including three against UAPB.
Jennings Still Working The Glass
Senior forward Aroha Jennings has seen her role change with the Lady Tigers since leading the team in scoring last season. While Jennings did average double-digit points up until the Florida Gulf Coast tournament, she has not scored double-digit points since scoring 14 points against Belmont five games ago.
But as an experienced college player, she has still kept at it under the glass, grabbing over five rebounds in six of the last seven games, including a double-double of 16 points and 11 rebounds against Alabama A&M.
Jennings was actually scoreless from the field against Loyola-Chicago, but converted 4-of-5 free-throw attempts to avoid a scoreless outing. She has only failed to score a field goal just one other time in her Lady Tiger career, in the C-USA opener against UAB last season, where she was 0-for-3 from the field. She still finished with seven points in that game after going 7-for-8 from the free-throw line.
<><>Jackson Tallies First Career Double-Double
Junior center Jessica Jackson tallied her first Lady Tiger double-double against UA Pine Bluff, finishing with 15 points and 12 rebounds. The 6-3 center also added two blocked shots and a steals in 26 minutes of play, but battled foul trouble, finishing with four for the game.
The double-double is the fifth of the season for the Lady Tigers. Ashley Thornton leads all Memphis players with three double-doubles on the season, while Aroha Jennings and Jackson each have one heading in to the Toledo game.
Five Lady Tigers in Double-Digits
The UA Pine Bluff game marked the first time Memphis has five players score double-digit points since a Jan. 23, 2004 game against UAB. In that game, now-assistant coach Jennifer Sullivan led the team with 23 points, while Victoria Crawford (20), Latrice Booker (13), Princess Swilley (12) and Devin Necaise (10) finished with double digit points.
A December Without Back-to-Back Double-Digit Scoring Outings for Thornton
After scoring double-digit points in five of Memphis' first six games, junior Ashley Thornton has alternated single and double-digit scoring outings ever since. She has since digit performances against Mississippi State (7), at Arkansas (3), and at Florida Gulf Coast (7), and has bounced back each time with a double-digit outing against Belmont (13), Loyola (15) and UAPB (12). She will be trying to string together back-to-back double-digit outings for the first time since the month of November heading in to the Toledo game.
Part of the change in Thornton's scoring may be the move from the five spot to a forward spot with Jessica Jackson moving in to the starting line-up as the team's center.
Free Basketball!
The UAPB game also marked the first Memphis game to go to an overtime session since Feb. 25, 2005, when Memphis fell 59-58 on a last second shot at then-C-USA foe Saint Louis. Memphis is 5-10 in school history in overtime, and fell to 0-2 in overtime under head coach Blair Savage-Lansden. The Lady Tigers have never played more than one overtime session in the previous 35 seasons of NCAA competition.
Multiple Thefts at UAPB Game
In just her fifth game in a Memphis uniform, sophomore point guard Latoya Bullard tied for the sixth-best single game performance with an eight-steal effort against Pine Bluff. The eight steals ties a mark shared with 10 other players. Jazmyn Green tied the same mark last season with 10 steals against Tulsa (1/7/07). It also set a new record for single game steals by a sophomore, breaking Tamika Butler's mark of seven steals at Saint Louis on Feb. 27, 2004.
Bullard already has 20 steals on the season and ranks second on the team behind former AAU teammate Paris Leonard (24).
But you won't see Bullard or Jackson ranked in any of the Conference USA rankings until after the 28th game of the year, as players have to play in 75 percent of a team's games in order to appear in the league's statistical rankings. That means the duo will appear in the league rankings following the Feb. 28th game against Southern Miss (with just one regular season game remaining against UCF) assuming they play in every game between now and then. They have to play in 21 of 28 games to reach the 75.0 percent mark after becoming eligible at the semester break.
If Bullard were able to appear in the league rankings right now, she would be first in the league with 4.0 steals per game, 1st with a 1.93 assist-to-turnover ratio and third with 5.4 assists per game.
Bullard Just Short of a Double-Double We Haven't Seen in Awhile
With nine points and 10 assists against Loyola Chicago in the first game of the Florida Gulf Coast tournament, sophomore point guard Latoya Bullard fell just short of a double-double that we haven't seen in a while (assists and points). The last double-double with points and assists was on Feb. 6, 2006 when Tamika Butler finished with 15 points and 10 assists in a win over UTEP. The 10 assists marked the first time since that game in 2006 that a Lady Tiger has had 10 assists in a game.
Leonard Scoring Streak Snapped
Junior guard Paris Leonard had her double-digit scoring streak of seven games snapped in the championship game of the Florida Gulf Coast tournament. After posting a career-high 29 points in the win over Loyola, Leonard was 0-for-8 from the field in the championship game against FGCU. In the first 11 games, she has been held to single digit scoring just once (Southeastern Louisiana), but has now been held scoreless twice (Creighton, Florida Gulf Coast).
Thornton Nabs All-Tournament Award
Junior forward Ashley Thornton earned her second all-tournament team award at the Florida Gulf Coast Holiday Classic, after averaging 11 points and 10 rebounds per game, while guiding Memphis to a 1-1 record. She was named to the Lady Tiger Thanksgiving Classic All-Tournament Team earlier this season.
Ellis Clearing the Glass
Freshman post Savannah Ellis broke in to the conference rankings in blocks per game this week, currently ranking 15th in the league with 0.83 blocks per game. But she has also done some impressive work on the glass since returning from the break, averaging 5.3 rebounds per game in three games. Prior to the semester break, she was averaging 2.3 rebounds per night, but set a new career high with eight rebounds in the win over Loyola, then falling just one short of tying that with seven rebounds in the loss to UAPB. Like the rest of her tired teammates though, she struggled against Florida Gulf Coast, finishing with just one defensive rebound in the loss. She also scored a career-high six points on 2-for-4 shooting against Loyola.
A Rare Win Away From Home
Winning on the road is tough in any level of basketball, including college ball. Memphis' 86-79 win over Loyola marked the Lady Tigers' first win outside the Elma Roane Fieldhouse since a 76-74 win at Lipscomb on Nov. 29, 2005, but it counts as a neutral site win. The last Lady Tiger road win was at UAB in the 2004-05 season.
