University of Memphis Athletics
University of Memphis
SMU
@MemphisWBKB Wrapping up Home Slate Monday Night
Mar 01, 2015 | Women's Basketball
The Last Time We Met: MU
With 1:17 left to play, the University of Memphis women's basketball team trailed SMU by 11 at 75-64. In that final minute, the Tigers put on a 10-0 run to pull to one down at 75-74 with 24 seconds left, but were unable to get the lead, falling 78-74.
SMU started the game by pounding the ball inside to senior forward Akil Simpson. Simpson scored 10 of the Mustangs' first 16 points, forcing McFerrin to take a time out down 16-9 at the 13:07 mark.
The Mustangs would push the lead to as many as 16 in the opening half, leading 40-27 at the break.
Memphis seemed to have the comeback started as early as the beginning of the second half, opening the stanza with a triple from Ariel Hearn, cutting the deficit to 10 at 40-30. But Memphis just could not string together consecutive stops with offensive scores, and spent most of the second half working on a deficit that ranged from 8 to 10 points.
SMU seemed to have the game in hand up 11 with 2:46 to play when Hearn drained another three, cutting the gap to eight at 70-62. But the Mustangs went right back to Simpson inside for an easy two and after a pair of Mays' free-throws with 1:17 left, seemed to have the game in hand before Memphis turned up the press on the in-bounds and forced three straight turnovers, turning them in to six straight points.
Hearn and Asianna Fuqua-Bey finished with 20 points apiece in the loss. The 20 points was one shy of a career high for Fuqua-Bey and was Hearn's 10th 20-point game of the season. It was the first time Memphis has two 20-point scorers in a game since the same two players scored 20 or more points in the win at Tennessee Tech earlier this year. No other Tiger made it to double-digit points, but freshmen Brandi Goodman, Taylor Williams and Mooriah Rowser each scored eight.
First of Two Meetings This Week
Memphis has played eight of the other 10 schools in the American Athletic Conference two times. Memphis faced Tulane two Saturdays ago for the only regular season meeting against the Green Wave this season.
On Monday night, the Tigers will face their final league opponent, but are again facing a team for the first time this year when SMU comes to town.
The Monday night meeting will be an interesting one -- neither team can improve in its tournament seeding, and both are coming off losses last weekend. And both teams know that they will square off again in just four days, playing in the first round of the American Athletic Conference tournament in Uncasville, Conn. That first round match-up will be the second game of the tournament and will be played at 6 p.m. (ET) with the winner advancing to face No. 2 seed USF.
Hearn to 15th on Memphis Career Scoring List
Junior guard Ariel Hearn scored 16 points in the loss to Tulsa on Tuesday night and had seven in the loss at UConn. That pushed the Memphis native to 15th on the Tigers' all-time scoring list. She now has 1,439 career points and needs just four more to move to 14th all-time. That mark at 14th is held by former Melissa McFerrin-coached Tiger Brittany Carter (2009-2012). Carter scored 1,437 points in three seasons for Memphis after transferring from the University of Georgia.
Hearn is currently the third-highest scoring Tiger coached by Melissa McFerrin. Former teammate Nicole Dickson (2009-13) is 10th on the all-time points list and leads all Memphis players who have played for Coach McFerrin. Then it's Carter, and her 1,437 points, followed by Hearn.
Looking to Snap a Streak
Memphis is looking to snap a three-game losing streak before the regular season comes to a close on Monday night. The Tigers are hoping to avoid heading in to the conference championship tournament on a four-game skid. The longest losing streak for Memphis this season was four games, but included road games at Illinois and Southern Illinois and home losses to projected NCAA tournament teams Minnesota and UALR.
Memphis snapped a three-game skid recently, winning 64-58 at Houston. The Tigers are 2-6 in their last eight games and looking to edge closer to .500.
