Tigers Women's Basketball Defeats Tulsa Saturday

Saturday, January 23

Tulsa, Okla.

2 pm CT

University of Memphis

11-9, 5-4AAC

Tulsa

7-13, 4-5AAC

Memphis

Tulsa

Photo by: Brandon Dill

Jan 23, 2016 | Women's Basketball

Box Score

Memphis follows victory over No. 15 USF with win at Tulsa.

TULSA, Okla. – No "ranked-team" hangover for this University of Memphis women's basketball team.

The Tigers followed up their upset of No. 15 USF Jan. 20 with a solid American Athletic Conference road victory at Tulsa Saturday. Memphis defeated the Golden Hurricane 69-58.

With the win, Memphis improved to 11-9 overall and 5-4 in the American Athletic Conference. Tulsa fell to 7-13 overall and 4-5 in the league. For the second-straight season, the Tigers have a 5-4 conference record at the mid-point of their league slate.

Under head coach Melissa McFerrin, Memphis is 2-0 is games following an upset of a ranked opponent. In 2013-14, the Tigers defeated Houston after their upset of No. 23 Rutgers.

Mooriah Rowser led three Tigers in double figures with a game-high tying 14 points. Cheyenne Creighton added 12 points and a career-high tying eight rebounds. Ariel Hearn had 10 points, four rebounds, three assists and three steals.

The Tigers shot over 60 percent for most of the game and finished hitting 56.4 percent from the field. Memphis out-rebounded Tulsa 29-26 and forced 25 Golden Hurricane turnovers.

Ashley Clark led Tulsa with 14 points. Kelsee Grovey and Teanna Reid each scored nine points for the Golden Hurricane. Tulsa shot 42 percent from the floor and 39.1 percent from the arc.

After a close first half, Memphis opened the game up in the third quarter, outscoring Tulsa 20-7 in the period. Creighton played a big role for Memphis in the quarter, netted eight of her 12 points and pulling down four of her eight boards.

The Tigers started the third period on an 8-2 spurt to take a 44-35 lead with 6:24 on the clock. After a Tulsa timeout, Memphis continued its hot play and extended its advantage to 16 points at 56-40 by the quarter's end.

In the final period, Memphis kept the Golden Hurricane at bay with timely scoring. The Tigers only netted 13 points in the period, but Tulsa got no closer than 12 points on two occasions (59-47 with 8:03 left; 63-51 with 5:37 left). The Golden Hurricane closed the final score to 11 points on a Grovey three-pointer at the buzzer.

The first half was close throughout with the largest lead eight points. One reason for the close play was the solid shooting on both sides. Memphis shot 60.7 percent from the field, and Tulsa wasn't far behind at 54.2 percent in the first half.

The game was nip-and-tuck in the opening minutes, but Tulsa went on an 8-2 run midway through the first quarter to take its largest lead at 18-13 with 3:15 to go. The Tigers, though, responded with a 7-3 spurt to cut the Golden Hurricane advantage to 21-20 at the end of the first quarter. Rowser netted five of the seven points in the run. Rowser scored all of her 14 points in the first period to help keep Memphis in the contest.

Memphis carried that momentum into the second period, quickly taking a 28-24 lead. Hearn (four points) and Williams (four points) accounted for all of the Tigers' scoring in the run. The Tigers maintained and even increased their advantage to eight points at 34-26 with 2:52 left before halftime. The Golden Hurricane answered with a 7-2 spurt to cut the Memphis lead to 36-33 at the half.

The Tigers return to action Wednesday, Jan. 27 when they host UCF in an American Athletic Conference game at the Elma Roane Fieldhouse. Game time is 7 p.m. (CT).