Creighton's Career High Powers Tigers Women's Basketball To Victory

Wednesday, January 27

Memphis, Tenn.

7 pm CT

University of Memphis

12-9, 6-4AAC

UCF

4-16, 1-8AAC

UCF

Memphis

Photo by: Joe Murphy

Creighton's Career High Powers Tigers Women's Basketball To Victory

Jan 27, 2016 | Women's Basketball

Box Score

Sophomore nets career-high 17 points in the win.

MEMPHIS, Tenn. – It was a night of career highs and season bests for the University of Memphis women's basketball squad.

Sophomore Cheyenne Creighton led four Tigers in double figures with a career-best 17 points, and senior Ariel Hearn recorded a double-double of 12 points and 10 assists to lead Memphis to a 75-59 American Athletic Conference win over UCF Wednesday.

The win was Memphis' third straight and improved the Tigers' record to 12-9 overall and 6-4 in league action. It is the first time since Memphis joined the American Athletic Conference that it has a better than .500 record in the first 10 league games.

The Tigers carry their three-game win streak into Hartford, Conn., Saturday when they face top-ranked Connecticut. Game time is 11 a.m. (CT) from the XL Center.

Creighton netted her 17 points on 7-of-8 field goals and 3-of-6 free throws. She improved her team-high field goal percentage to 61 percent for the season. In league games only (10 contests), Creighton is hitting 71.4 percent from the floor.

Hearn's 10 assists were a season best, and she also had five steals which tied a career high. Hearn now has 1,799 points and 396 assists for her career. Brea Elmore tied her career high with 12 points on a perfect shooting game from the field (5-of-5 FG, 2-of-2 treys). Asianna Fuqua-Bey scored 10 points.

Zykira Lewis led UCF with 16 points, and Aliyah Gregory added 12 points. Joslyn Massey had nine points and nine rebounds.

Memphis finished game shooting 59.6 percent from the floor and had 21 assists on 31 made field goals. The Tigers defense held UCF to 39.7 percent from the field and forced the Knights into 29 turnovers.

"One of the things I like about this team is that we share the ball," said Tigers head coach Melissa McFerrin. "I'm really proud of the way we share the ball and make the game easy for each other.

"Cheyenne was 7-of-8 from the field, and that is a credit to our entire team. They trust each other. We try to take advantage of having three great post players, and we're doing a good job."

The game did not start well from the opening tip for the home team, as UCF scored the contest's first five points for an early 5-0 lead. Lewis (three-pointer) and Gregory (jumper) accounted for the Knights' points.

Memphis, though, answered with the next 15 points to take a 15-5 advantage that it did not relinquish the rest of the game. The Tigers got the job done in the paint early, netting 13 of their 15 points in the paint. Creighton (five points) and Fuqua-Bey (four points) paced the Tigers run.

After a UCF basket, Memphis continued its offensive onslaught, outscoring the Knights 13-6 to take a 28-13 lead into the second quarter. The Tigers shot 66.7 percent from the field in the opening period and outscored UCF 22-8 in paint points. Memphis' 28 points were the most in a first quarter this season.

"We wanted to get off to a fast start, so we started off pressing and we accomplished that goal," said McFerrin. "Our kids played with a lot of energy early. Our guards did a good job of feeding the ball to the post early."

Early in the second period, Memphis continued its top-notch offensive play, extending its 15-point advantage to 22 points at 39-17 with 6:02 left before halftime. Four Tigers scored in the run.

UCF, though, did not go away. The Knights closed the second period on a 12-2 spurt to slice the Memphis lead to 41-29 at the break. Kayla Thigpen (five points) and Lewis (three points) led the UCF run.

The Knights carried over the momentum from the second period into the third quarter, slicing further in the Tigers' lead at 43-35 with 7:05 on the clock. Ashley Polacek and Lewis hit consecutive treys for UCF. Memphis regained its composure and put together a 12-4 spurt over the next five minutes to take a 55-38 lead and put the game out of reach. The Tigers led 57-40 at the end of three quarters.

Memphis maintained its double-digit advantage throughout the fourth quarter for the 75-59 final.