University of Memphis Athletics
University of Memphis
UAB
Tigers Claw Out 65-60 Win at UAB
Feb 07, 2009 | Women's Basketball
Feb. 7, 2009
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - -
Complete Box Score in PDF Format 
Guided by 20 point nights from seniors Ashley Thornton and Paris Leonard, the University of Memphis (9-14, 2-8 C-USA) snapped a five-game losing streak with a 65-60 victory over UAB (9-14, 4-6 C-USA) Saturday night. The win snaps a seven-game losing streak to the Blazers for the women's basketball team and gives the seniors their first-ever win over UAB.
"I'm just really happy for the team because when you go so far between wins is you forget what it feels like and that's what we said in the locker room, let's go out there and remember what this feels like," Head Coach Melissa McFerrin said." We've had a couple of discussions this week that I think they took hold of, they wanted to play with a lot of pride and I thought we had a couple players who were really played huge tonight. Savannah Ellis just got every rebound that came off tonight and I also think Tehani Goldsmith, when she plays with no fear, she can just come in and make a big impact in our game."
The Tigers led at the half, 30-27, after a physical first half pushed the Tigers out front. The scenario was eerily similar to the Tigers' first meeting with UAB, which Memphis also led 30-27. This time, Memphis built the lead with offensive rebounding, out-rebounding UAB 24-19, including 14 offensive boards. UAB opened the game by going inside on first offensive series to Tamika Dukes, then outside to Britney Jones and then back inside to Dukes to take an early 7-0 lead, forcing a Memphis timeout. But Memphis worked the ball for a wide open jumper from Alex Winchell off the timeout, and Paris Leonard knocked down a three to pull the Tigers to 7-5 down with 17:29 to play. UAB got a pair of buckets from conference leading scorer Britney Jones to pull to 11-5, but Thornton drew a foul off an offensive rebound and hit both free throws to pull the Tigers to 11-7 at the first media timeout.
Memphis then went on a 6-1 run powered by an offensive stick-back from Savannah Ellis and a layup in the paint from Ashley Thornton to take its first lead of the night at 13-12 with 13:23 to play in the half. Memphis forced the Blazers in to turnovers on three straight trips, before Jones launched a three-point field goal from two steps behind the men's basketball three-point. The Blazers were further frustrated when Thornton worked against Tamika Dukes and helped Dukes pick up her second foul in a scrum for a rebound at 12:17. Memphis then missed a layup in the paint, but the defense stiffened up and forced a shot clock violation, before Jones stuck back an offensive rebound on a reverse layup to put UAB back in front 15-14.
But the Tiger seniors had an answer as Paris Leonard knocked down a pair of threes sandwiched around an Ashley Thornton free-throw to push Memphis in front 24-20 with 3:28 to play. Thornton then drew yet another foul on an offensive scrum, hitting the floor hard after less than five minutes after re-entering the game after having a UAB player roll up her ankle under a defensive rebound with 9:03 to play. Thornton, who had her ankle re-taped, still stuck both free-throws to push the Memphis lead to 26-22, before Ramses Lonlack fed the ball to Shekeira Copeland in the paint after a Lonlack offensive rebound with the shot clock winding down. Tehani Goldsmith then drove the paint after a broken play with the shot clock in single digits to put the Tigers in front at the half 30-27.
Memphis, which had got burned by UAB at the beginning of the second half in the first meeting, came out the aggressor this time in the second half, using an 8-3 run with points from three different players to force a UAB timeout with the Tigers up 38-33. Ashley Thornton scored her third consecutive bucket to push the Memphis lead to 10 at 43-33, forcing another UAB timeout with 13:27 to play.
But the Blazers battled back, as Amanda Peterson, the conference's leading three-point field goal shooter, connected on her second triple of the night with 13:03 to play, snapping a 4:29 UAB scoring drought and igniting the UAB fans. Memphis got another layup from Paris Leonard off a defensive rebound that she drove the length of the floor to answer the triple, but Jones beat the tired Tigers back down the floor, missing the wide open layup with no one within three steps of her to give Memphis a break.
But having found a weakness, UAB beat the Tigers down the floor without anyone stopping the ball on three straight trips, kicking the final one out to a waiting Peterson, who drained the triple to cut the UAB deficit to 47-43. The speed with which Jones got the ball down the floor allowed UAB to take its first lead of the second half, 55-54 off a three-point field goal from Peterson, but Memphis went to Thornton on the next trip, who drained a 10-foot jumper from the wing to put Memphis back in front 56-55 with 4:12 to play.
The Blazers would knot the game again at 60-60 after Jones stole a ball from Winchell and laid it in with 60-60 to play, again pulling the Blazer fans back into the game. But Memphis came down the floor and Paris Leonard got off a shot, which she missed. But Ellis grabbed one of her nine offensive rebounds and stuck it back in for a 62-60 Tiger lead with 1:44 to play.
Memphis, which had missed six straight from the free-throw line, would step it up in the waning minutes, going 3-for-4 to seal the 65-60 victory.
Thornton, playing in front of her hometown crowd for the last time in her Memphis career, tied a career high with 22 points, adding nine rebounds and one steal in 34 minutes. Fellow senior Paris Leonard added 21 points and 11 rebounds for her second career double-double. Leonard was 3-for-5 from three-point range and struggled with a 2-for-7 night from the line. Savannah Ellis added eight points, 13 rebounds and four blocked shots in the victory.
UAB was led by Britney Jones. The league's leading scorer finished with 24 points and four assists. Teammate Amanda Peterson added 16 points
Memphis will have two games this weekend against West Division foes. The Tigers will host SMU Thursday at 7 p.m. at the Elma Roane Fieldhouse, then will travel to Tulsa for a Sunday contest against the Golden Hurricane at 2 p.m.
