Tigers Welcome Temple To Open Conference Play On New Years Day

Sunday, January 1

Memphis, Tenn.

5:00 PM

University of Memphis

Temple

Photo by: Brandon Dill

Tigers Welcome Temple To Open Conference Play On New Years Day

Dec 31, 2016 | Women's Basketball

Watch ESPN Live Stats Listen Live Memphis Game Notes

Memphis is riding a four-game winning streak to open conference play with a 7-6 record

MEMPHIS, Tenn. – The University of Memphis women's basketball team returns to action Sunday afternoon to take on Temple in the 2016-17 American Athletic Conference opener. Tip-off against the Owls is scheduled for 5 p.m. at the Elma Roane Fieldhouse. The game will broadcast on ESPN2.

GAME 14
Memphis (7-6) vs. Temple (8-3)
Tip-off: 5 p.m.
Location: Memphis, Tenn. – Elma Roane Fieldhouse
TV: ESPN2
Watch | Live Stats | Listen

The Tigers come into the conference opener with a 7-6 overall record and four game winning streak, a streak that was topped off in non-conference play with a commanding 75-59 victory over Vanderbilt on Dec. 28, 2016. It was the first win over the Commodores in almost 30 years, snapping an eight-game streak Vanderbilt had against Memphis.

Cheyenne Creighton continued to be dominating for the Tigers, scoring a career-high 26 points and pulling down a career-high 13 rebounds for her fifth-straight double-double this season. The junior from Pickering, Ontario, Canada leads the team with 15.8 points and 8.0 rebounds per game.

Also against Vanderbilt, junior Brea Elmore continued her strong play by scoring 18 points for the Tigers. In the current winning streak for the Tigers, three different Tigers are averaging in double-figures while Creighton is pulling down 10.8 rebounds per game. The 75 points against Vanderbilt was the highest offensive output this season for Memphis and in the last four games, the Tigers are averaging 67.2 points per game.

The Tigers have also improved in rebounding over the last four games by snagging 39.5 rebounds per game compared to its opponents 31.5 per game. The 45 rebounds recorded against Vanderbilt was a season-high.

Memphis was picked to finish seventh in the American Athletic Conference. Head coach Melissa McFerrin is currently in her ninth season at the helm of the Memphis program. Coming into the game against Temple, McFerrin is three wins shy of 150 at Memphis and 200 in her career.

About The Match-Up
This is the seventh meeting between the Tigers and the Owls. Temple holds a 5-1 advantage over the Tigers with the lone Tiger victory coming in the five overtime game last season. In its Feb. 18, 2016 match-up against Temple, Memphis made a little NCAA history.

The Tigers and Owls tied an NCAA Division I women's basketball record with a five-overtime game. Memphis pulled out the five-overtime win by a score of 100-97.

The last time an NCAA Division I women's basketball game went five overtimes was the 2006-07 season. On Feb. 22, 2007, Drexel won a five-overtime contest over Northeastern 98-90.

The following are other NCAA records set in the 2016 Memphis-Temple five-overtime game:

Record	Stat
Most points scored in overtime periods	50 by Memphis
Most points scored by both teams in overtime	97 by UofM and TU
*Most minutes played by an individual player	64 by UofM's Mooriah Rowser

*Mark added to NCAA Record Book in 2015-16; record was not previously in record book.

A Look At Temple
Like Memphis, Temple comes into the New Year's game on a four-game winning streak. Overall, Temple is 8-3. Against its most recent opponent, Fairfield, Temple's Alliya Butts became Temple's all-time leader in three's. Butts, a junior guard, is averaging 17.0 points per game and is a First-Team All-AAC selection.

Temple has three starters averaging in double-figures, led by Feyonda Fitzgerald's 18.8. Fitzgerald also leads the team with 6.5 assists per game and earlier this season, was named the National Player of the Week by ESPNW. Both Fitzgerald and Butts were preseason All-Conference selections.

The Owls rank third in The American in points per game with 71.5. Only USF and UConn are ahead of them. In the preseason conference poll, Temple was picked to finish second just above USF.

Temple is led by head coach Tonya Cardoza who is currently in her ninth season at the helm of the Owl program. In her Temple career, she has accumulated a 172-104 overall record.

Final Details
Tip-off against Temple is scheduled for 5 p.m. at the Elma Roane Fieldhouse. The game will be televised on ESPN2 and can be heard on the radio at 91.7 FM WUMR. For more information on the Memphis women's basketball team, follow us on Twitter at @MemphisWBB.