Tigers Women's Basketball Wins Third-Straight Game

Thursday, January 7

Cincinnati, Ohio

6 pm CT

University of Memphis

9-6, 3-1AAC

Cincinnati

5-9, 1-2AAC

Memphis

Cincinnati

Photo by: Joe Murphy

Jan 07, 2016 | Women's Basketball

Box Score

Memphis defeats Cincinnati 64-47 for first conference road win of season.

CINCINNATI, Ohio – Make it three in a row for the University of Memphis women's basketball squad.

Senior Asianna Fuqua-Bey scored a team-high 14 points, and senior Ariel Hearn dished out nine assists and grabbed a career-high 11 rebounds to lift the Tigers to a 64-47 American Athletic Conference victory over Cincinnati Thursday.

With the win, Memphis improved to 9-6 overall and 3-1 in conference play. Cincinnati fell to 5-9 and 1-2 in the league.

Thursday's game was the third of four contests for the Tigers this week. Memphis closes this stretch of conference play Sunday, Jan. 10 with a 1 p.m. (CT) game against Tulsa at the Elma Roane Fieldhouse.

For Memphis, Cheyenne Creighton added 13 points and five rebounds, and Loysha Morris scored 11 points. Fuqua-Bey grabbed four boards and now has 699 career rebounds.

Hearn scored only four points, but reached the 1,700-point milestone in Thursday's win. The Memphis, Tenn., native now has 1,702 career points.

For the third-consecutive game, Memphis used the same recipe for the win – solid shooting and great defense. The Tigers shot 48.4 percent from the floor and had 21 assists on 30 field goals made. The Memphis defense held the Bearcats to 31.1 percent from the field and forced 17 Cincinnati miscues.

Memphis held a 38-29 lead at half and used a 13-4 spurt to start the third period and open a 51-33 advantage. The run put the game out of reach. Fuqua-Bey had six points and Morris hit another three-pointer in the run. The Tigers led 55-38 after three quarters.

Cincinnati opened the second half with an early 6-0 run on two treys to slice the Memphis to 55-44 with 8:16 left. But, that's when the Memphis defense clamped down on the Bearcats, as the home squad managed only three points the rest of the way.

Creighton halted the Cincinnati fourth-quarter spurt with a layup and followed with two more baskets to give the Tigers the breathing room it needed on their way to the win.

The first half was one of runs. Memphis started the game with a 7-0 spurt that junior college transfer Loysha Morris capped with a three-pointer. The Bearcats, though, answered with an 8-3 run to cut the Tigers' to 11-8. The Tigers had one final push in the first quarter and carried a 17-12 lead into the second period.

In the second quarter, Memphis opened on a 14-6 spurt to take its largest lead of the first half at 31-18. Taylor Williams' six points and Asianna Fuqua-Bey's four points keyed the Tigers' run. As they did in the first period, the Bearcats had a response. Cincinnati put together a 7-0 run to close to within six at 31-25. Ana Owens scored five of the Bearcats' seven points in the run.

Memphis kept its distance the remainder of the first half and held a 38-29 lead at the break after a Cheyenne Creighton three-pointer at the buzzer.