University of Memphis Athletics
University of Memphis
Eastern Washington
Cold-Shooting First Half Costs Tigers Three-Game Winning Streak
Nov 29, 2009 | Women's Basketball
Nov. 29, 2009
Complete Box Score in PDF Format 
The University of Memphis women's basketball team (3-3) had chances all day Sunday in a 58-54 loss to Eastern Washington in the University of Washington Husky Classic. The Tigers shot just 26.5 percent in the opening half and while bouncing back to take a lead seven different times, the team could not convert down the stretch to fall to 3-3 on the season.
"We all need to take some responsibility for this loss," Head Coach Melissa McFerrin said. "We had too many breakdowns that we had talked about in practice. We just did not take responsibility for ourselves on the court tonight and in order for us to become winners, we need to act like winners all the time."
Eastern Washington saw the Tigers' shooting woes against the zone in the Sacramento State game and came out immediately in a zone, frustrating Memphis shooters in the opening minutes, with Memphis going 4-for-13 in the first eight minutes of the game and trailing 15-10. With Memphis posts in foul trouble, EWU then went to the glass and out-worked the Tigers 21-16 on the glass to stretch the lead to 30-17.
The Tigers countered with back-to-back buckets from Brittany Carter, who was fighting to play despite being ill. That was followed by a Savannah Ellis layup, cutting the deficit to 30-21, but EWU got back out in transition, finding open Eagle shooters to push the lead back to double-digits at 33-23 at the half. Memphis' foul troubles sent EWU to the line 16 times, compared to just nine Tiger trips, and EWU converted 10 of them, making up the half-time difference between the two teams.
Memphis opened the second half on a 5-0 run that cut the deficit to 33-28 at the first media timeout of the second half, but not before Taylor Mumphrey picked up her third personal foul. It was junior Alex Winchell who helped narrow the gap to three at 33-30 scoring her second layup in the lane. The ensuing Tiger pressure trapped the EWU player on the sideline and forced an EWU timeout.
The Tigers kept chipping away at the lead before Ramses Lonlack stuck back an offensive rebound for a 34-33 lead. But the lead was short-lived as, the Tigers got beat down the floor in closing out a three-point shooter, as Jessica Huntington scored EWU's first bucket of the half from beyond the arc, retaking the lead. EWU was then the team that converted in transition, hanging on to a 40-38 lead as Huntington's three started a 7-0 EWU run after the Eagles were scoreless for almost seven minutes to start the second half.
Tiger coach Melissa McFerrin was only able to use Carter sparingly after Carter was ill overnight, but her turn in the rotation came up just in time, as a breakaway layup from Carter helped Memphis tie the game at 40. A Chatia Kelsey layup followed by another Carter bucket pushed the Tigers in front 44-40, forcing a EWU timeout. But EWU used a 5-0 run to again close the gap as the Tigers committed a pair of turnovers while EWU went to quick backup guard Chene Cooper for a run that tied the game at 46-46 with 5:38 to play. Cooper scored her seventh point of the stretch to push EWU back in front, but Memphis countered with a step-back jumper from Carter and a fast break layup from Lonlack to retake the lead at 50-48 at the final media timeout at 3:59.
But EWU knocked down a pair of free-throws out of the break to re-tie the game and Memphis then took a contested jumper and passed a ball off a teammates hands after a play broke down, giving the Eagles the ball back with EWU up 51-50 following one of two Cooper free-throws.
Winchell tried to pick up some momentum for Memphis, drawing a charge on the opposing team's point guard in the open court, but Carter settled for a long jumper early in the shot clock and no one was there to rebound, and Sparavalo, who had missed a deep three from the wing on the previous trip, was not going to miss a second one, knocking down a three and retaking the lead 54-52. Memphis came down the floor and on a broken play, but bounced the ball off a Tiger foot out-of-bounds. On the ensuing trip, Huntington dribbled around the perimeter attaching Mumphrey, turning the corner and banking a shot hard for a 56-54 lead.
Memphis counters with bucket from Ellis, then EWU was whistled for a lane violation on a free-throw attempt from Cooper, giving Memphis the ball back with 21.8 seconds left to play and trailing 56-54. But Memphis could not make it in to its offense from the first or second pass, and EWU got two more free-throws from Cooper, the back-up point guard who led EWU with 17 points off the bench.
Carter led Memphis with 18 points in 26 minutes of play, but was playing with significantly less energy after being ill overnight. Ellis added 13 points, just one off her career-high, while Winchell scored 11 points, but was 0-for-5 from three-point range.
The three-point line was the difference on the day for the game. Both teams had 41 rebounds and shot in the mid-30 percent range, but EWU was 6-for-16, including the late three from Tatjana Sparavalo that gave EWU the lead back for the final time.
The Tigers will fly back to Memphis overnight tonight and will practice this week before flying to Miami, Thursday, to face Florida International. The Tigers will tip off against the Panthers at 7 p.m. (ET) if FIU is not selected as a first/second round site for the NCAA tournament. The game will be bumped back to 9 p.m. (ET) if FIU ends up hosting NCAA First and Second Round Volleyball action. The volleyball tournament field will be announced at 2 p.m. (CT).
