Tigers Women's Basketball Wins Season Opener 70-55

Friday, November 13

Memphis, Tenn.

7 pm CT

University of Memphis

1-0

Jacksonville State

0-1

Jacksonville State

Memphis

Photo by: Joe Murphy

Nov 13, 2015 | Women's Basketball

Box Score

Frontline trio of Fuqua-Bey, Creighton, Wright combines for 36 points, 10 rebounds.

MEMPHIS, Tenn. – University of Memphis senior Asianna Fuqua-Bey had 14 points, eight rebounds and six assists to lift the Tigers to a 70-55 victory over Jacksonville State at the Elma Roane Fieldhouse Friday. Fuqua-Bey's six assists were a career high.

The game was the 2015-16 season opener for both teams. Friday's win was the Tigers' fifth-straight, season-opening win. The Tigers look to start the campaign 2-0 Sunday when they host Eastern Illinois in a 2 p.m. (CT) contest at the Elma Roane Fieldhouse.

Friday's game also was the 2015-16 season debut for Memphis head coach Melissa McFerrin, who missed the team's Nov. 5 exhibition game due to an illness.

The Tigers' game plan of getting the ball into the post worked well. In addition to Fuqua-Bey's performance, sophomore Cheyenne Creighton added 12 points, and senior Brianna Wright scored 10 points. Ariel Hearn netted 11 points, including the 1,500^th point of her career.

Jacksonville State's Briana Benson led all scorers with 17 points. Tyler Phelion grabbed a game-best 11 boards for the Gamecocks.

Memphis used a hot-shooting and stifling-defensive second period to take control of the contest. The Tigers outscored the Gamecocks 25-13 in the quarter and shot 8-of-15 from the field and 8-of-8 from the charity stripe. Fuqua-Bey netted six of her eight first-half points and dished out four of her five first-half assists in the second quarter.

The Memphis defense forced 15 Gamecocks' turnovers in the first half, including 11 in the second quarter. Junior college transfer Loysha Morris was disruptive on the defensive end throughout the first half, swiping away three Jacksonville State passes. Morris got the start in her first NCAA Division I game against the Gamecocks.

Memphis continued to maintain – and even build on – its lead in the third period. The Tigers' third-quarter highlight came at the 1:25 mark when Hearn hit a three-pointer to surpass 1,500 points for her career. She now has 1,506 career points.

The Tigers outscored Jacksonville State 22-11 in the third period. Creighton (six points) and Fuqua-Bey (four points) provided the offensive punch in the quarter. Hearn and Rowser each netted five points in the period.

The Gamecocks made a run early in the final quarter, cutting the Memphis lead to 57-48 with 5:07 left. The Tigers, though, responded with a 12-3 run to stretch the advantage to 18 points at 69-51 with 1:13 remaining.

The first period got off to a slow start for both squads. The Gamecocks jumped out to a 6-1 lead in the first 4:30 of the game, but the Tigers scored the next two baskets to pull to within one at 6-5 at the first period media timeout. Mooriah Rowser netted the Tigers' first basket of the game at the 5:02 mark. The Gamecocks responded with a 7-0 run to take a 13-5 advantage. Gretchen Morrison scored five of Jacksonville State's seven points in the spurt.