Tigers Women's Basketball At Little Rock Friday

Friday, November 27

Little Rock, Ark.

5:15 pm CT

University of Memphis

Little Rock

Tickets

Photo by: Joe Murphy

Nov 26, 2015 | Women's Basketball

Memphis looks for 4-1 start to 2015-16 campaign.

MEMPHIS, Tenn. – After improving its home record to 3-0 with a Nov. 22 win over Georgetown, the University of Memphis women's basketball team looks for its first road victory of the young season Friday, Nov. 27 when the Tigers travel to Little Rock, Ark., to meet the Little Rock Trojans.

Memphis dropped its 2015-16 road opener at Kansas 72-63 Nov. 19.

The Tigers lead the all-time series with the Trojans 7-3, but Little Rock has won the last three meetings. The last two match-ups were single-digit outcomes, including one overtime game. It's an opponent that the Tigers and head coach Melissa McFerrin have a tremendous amount of respect for.

"Little Rock is very sound defensively," said McFerrin. "All they play is half-court, man-to-man defense. They don't try to pretend to play other defenses. There are no gimmicks. We like to play them because they will make you grind. I also like to play them because of their motion offense.

"They lost close games to Tulane and LSU to start the season. We know this is a team that we'll have to contend with, and we have to go to their place. After a practice earlier this week, (senior) Asianna Fuqua-Bey was telling the younger players that this team is no joke. It's been a battle every time we've played them in my time here."

Radio: 91.7 FM (WUMR)
Internet Video: lrtrojans.com/watch/?Live=29
Live Stats: http://www.statbroadcast.com/events/statbroadcast.php?t=1&gid=ualr
LiveTweet: @MemphisWBKB, #MEMWBKB, #GoTigersGo

Tigers Tidbits/Five Notes To Know
• Memphis holds a 7-3 all-time series lead, but the Trojans have won the last three meetings in the series. The Tigers are 3-1 all-time against the Trojans when the games are played in Little Rock.
• The last two match-ups in the 2013-14 and 2014-15 seasons have been close calls, with both going Little Rock's way. The Trojans defeated Memphis 66-59 at the Elma Roane Fieldhouse in 2014-15 (Nov. 29, 2014). The previous campaign (2013-14), Little Rock recorded a 68-63 overtime victory over the Tigers in Little Rock Nov. 22, 2013.
• Memphis is looking to go 4-1 for the second time in the Melissa McFerrin era. The last time the Tigers started a season 4-1 was the 2011-12 campaign. That Tigers squad began with a 9-1 record and finished the season with a 25-8 overall mark. In 2011-12, Memphis finished second in the Conference USA regular-season standings and earned a WNIT berth.
• Friday's game at Little Rock is a homecoming for one Tiger. Redshirt freshman Damonique Miller is from Little Rock, Ark., and played basketball for Joe T. Robinson High School. A four-time all-conference performer, Miller was a 2014 McDonald's All-American Game nominee. Miller, though, has yet to play in 2015-16 due to injury and is not expected to see game action Friday. The 5-foot-11 guard will travel to Little Rock with the Tigers.
• Friday's match-up could get a little defensive. Both squads are holding their opponents to under 60 points per game. The Memphis defense allows 57.2 points, and the Trojans defense gives up 59.3 points. The Tigers have held three of their four foes under 60 points. Little Rock has kept two of its three opponents to fewer than 60 points.

Scouting Little Rock
After opening the season with setbacks to Tulane (69-53) and LSU (57-51), the Trojans secured their first win of 2015-16 with a 66-52 victory over Oral Roberts Nov. 24. Little Rock returns three starters and seven letterwinners from last season's 29-5 squad.

Senior Shanity James leads the Trojans' offensive attack as the squad's only double-figure scorer at 17.0 ppg. She also is the team's top rebounder at 7.3 rpg. Sophomore Monique Townson is Little Rock's second-leading scorer at 8.3 ppg. Junior Kaitlyn Pratt is second on the team with a 7.0 rebounding average. Townson is the Trojans' top three-point threat, hitting 66.7 percent from the arc.

Little Rock is shooting 38.7 percent from the floor, 36.6 percent from the three-point arc and 59.2 percent from the free throw line.

The Trojans were picked to finish third in the Sun Belt Conference preseason poll. Alexius Dawn (first team) and James (second team) received All-Sun Belt Conference preseason honors.

Head coach Joe Foley is in his 13th season at Little Rock. He has a 235-133 all-time record at the school and also has over 700 wins for his collegiate career.

In 2014-15, Little Rock had a "season for the ages." The Trojans won a school-record 29 games (29-5 mark) and posted an 18-2 Sun Belt Confernece record. Little Rock swept the Sun Belt Conference regular-season and tournament titles. The Trojans received their fourth NCAA Tournament bid in the program's history. Little Rock won its first NCAA Tournament game, upsetting No. 6 seed Texas A&M 69-60 in the opening round. The Trojans dropped a narrow 57-54 decision to No. 3 seed Arizona State in the second round.