Tigers Women's Basketball Opens Season This Weekend

Friday, November 13

Memphis, Tenn.

7 pm CT

University of Memphis

Jacksonville State

Tickets

Photo by: Joe Murphy

Tigers Women's Basketball Opens Season This Weekend

Nov 12, 2015 | Women's Basketball

Memphis hosts Jacksonville State Friday, Eastern Illinois Sunday.

MEMPHIS, Tenn. – The summer workouts are over. The preseason drills are done. The exhibitions have been exhausted. Now, it counts.

The University of Memphis women's team tips off its 2015-16 regular season this weekend with two home games at the Elma Roane Fieldhouse. Both foes are from the Ohio Valley Conference, with Jacksonville State the season/home opener opponent Friday, Nov. 13 and Eastern Illinois Sunday, Nov. 15. Friday's game time is 7 p.m. (CT), and the Sunday contest tips at 2 p.m. (CT).

"We'll have to get ready real quick with only a day in between our first two games," said Tigers assistant coach Erin Grant. "We've focused on and prepared for both opponents all week. We're excited about the challenges.

"For Jacksonville State, we will face Destany McLin, who is a great player. She's a preseason all-conference pick. She has an awesome jump shot and is a tremendous athlete, so we're going to have to deny her the ball.

"Despite its record last season (10-19), we're not looking past Eastern Illinois at all. They have their starting point guard back. Coach (Debbie) Black is in her third season and has her system in place. We'll have a tough game on our hands Sunday too."

Memphis won its lone exhibition, an 82-51 victory over Harding Nov. 5. The Tigers hope to have their head coach, Melissa McFerrin, back on the sidelines this weekend. McFerrin missed the Nov. 5 exhibition due to an illness.

The following are some notes for this weekend's two games:

Radio: 91.7 FM (WUMR)
Internet Video: www.gotigersgo.com/watch
Live Stats: memphis.statbroadcast.com
LiveTweet: @MemphisWBKB, #MEMWBKB, #GoTigersGo

Tigers Tidbits vs. Jacksonville State • Friday, Nov. 13
• Memphis meets Jacksonville State for the first time on the hardwood. The Tigers, though, are familiar with Ohio Valley Conference (OVC) opponents. Memphis has a 68-27 all-time record vs. the OVC. Last season, the Tigers played one OVC foe, Austin Peay, and posted a 65-60 victory over the Lady Governors.
• Friday is the Tigers' 2015-16 season opener. Memphis has a 24-19 all-time record in season openers. The Tigers have won their last four season openers, including last year's 79-63 victory over Missouri State at the Elma Roane Fieldhouse. Friday's game also is Memphis' home opener. In their last 30 seasons, Memphis has a 20-10 record in home openers.
• It is Friday the 13th, and this superstitious day has been rather unkind to the Tigers in the past. Although it hasn't played often on this day, Memphis has a 1-5 all-time record when playing on Friday the 13th. The lone Friday the 13th win was a 96-74 victory over Mississippi State at the Elma Roane Fieldhouse Dec. 13, 1996.
• Tigers senior Ariel Hearn needs only five points to reach the 1,500-point milestone. She enters the 2015-16 season with 1,495 career points and is within reach of the 2,000-point plateau. If reached, Hearn would be only the eighth Tigers player to do so.
• Memphis returns all five starters and nine letterwinners from last year's squad. It is the first time in head coach Melissa McFerrin's tenure that the Tigers have all five starters coming back. The last time a Tigers team was close to all five starters back was the 2010-11 and 2011-12 campaigns when Memphis had four returning starters.
• Showing just how much experience the Tigers have in 2015-16 can be seen in the numbers. Memphis returns 96.8 percent of its scoring (1,753 of 1,811 points), 93.4 percent of its rebounds (1,084 of 1,161), 98.6 percent of its assists (347 of 352) and 94.3 percent of its steals (246 of 261).
• The Tigers have more of an international basketball flair in 2015-16. Memphis boasts two Canadians on its roster in sophomore Cheyenne Creighton and junior college transfer Loysha Morris and the program's first European player in freshman Milena Bajic from Montenegro. The three international players are the most for a Tigers team in head coach Melissa McFerrin's tenure.

About Jacksonville State
Jacksonville State, an Ohio Valley Conference (OVC) member, opens the 2015-16 campaign with high hopes. The Gamecocks return three starters and eight letterwinners from last season's squad that posted a 19-10 overall record and a 10-6 OVC mark. The 19 wins were the program's most since moving to the NCAA Division I level in 1995-96. Jacksonville State was picked to finish fourth (coaches) and third (media) in the 2015-16 OVC preseason polls. Senior Destany McLin was a preseason All-OVC pick. McLin is the Gamecocks' leading returning scorer (12.4 ppg) and rebounder (7.0 rpg). Head coach Rick Petri is in his third season at Jacksonville State.

Tigers Tidbits vs. Eastern Illinois • Sunday, Nov. 15
• Memphis plays Eastern Illinois for only the third time in its history, but it's been awhile. The last time the two programs met on the hardwood was the 1983-84 season. The Tigers won that encounter, 88-79. Memphis leads the overall series 2-0.
• Memphis has a 68-27 all-time record vs. the Ohio Valley Conference (OVC; record is prior to Friday's game vs. Jacksonville State). The OVC is fourth-most frequent conference Memphis has played in its history. The Tigers have meet OVC foes a total of 96 times. The only leagues Memphis has played more are the American Athletic Conference (208 times), Atlantic Coast Conference (97) and Conference USA (199).
• Sunday's game has more of an international flair than just the players on the Tigers roster. Six international players appear on the two rosters combined. Memphis has three international players in Cheyenne Creighton (Canada), Loysha Morris (Canada) and Milena Bajic (Montenegro). The Panthers also have three international players in Grace Lennox (Tasmania), Karina Chandra (Australia) and Carmen Tellez (Spain).
• One Tigers coach that may know a little more about Eastern Illinois than the rest of the staff is third-year assistant Jessica Bogia. Bogia came to Memphis after one season (2012-13) on the Panthers' staff. She helped Eastern Illinois to a share of the Ohio Valley Conference regular-season championship and a WNIT berth in 2012-13.

About Eastern Illinois
Eastern Illinois visits the Elma Roane Fieldhouse Sunday and is the second-straight Ohio Valley Conference (OVC) opponent for the Tigers, as they hosted Jacksonville State Friday. The Panthers return three starters from last season's 10-20 squad, but eight of Eastern Illinois' players on its roster are sophomores or younger. Eastern Illinois was picked to finish ninth in both OVC preseason polls (coaches and media). Leading the Panthers is junior Erica Brown, who averaged 8.0 points and 6.6 rebounds a year ago. Brown has 17 career double-figure scoring games and four career double-doubles. Head coach Debbie Black is in her third season at Eastern Illinois.