Tigers Women's Basketball Defeats East Carolina In Overtime Saturday

Saturday, February 27

Memphis, Tenn.

2 pm CT

University of Memphis

17-11, 11-6American

East Carolina

11-18, 5-12American

OT 1

East Carolina

Memphis

Photo by: Brandon Dill

Tigers Women's Basketball Defeats East Carolina In Overtime Saturday

Feb 27, 2016 | Women's Basketball

Box Score

Seniors combine for 75 points, 26 rebounds in the 93-83 victory.

MEMPHIS, Tenn. – Tiger Nation, say it all at one time: "I can't believe what we just saw."

As improbable of a victory in the program's history, the University of Memphis women's basketball team fought back from a nine-point deficit in the final two minutes of regulation to send its American Athletic Conference game Saturday with East Carolina into overtime and then post a thrilling 93-83 win over the Pirates.

With the win, Memphis improved to 17-11 overall and 11-6 in the league. The Tigers currently are in fourth place in the conference standings and are one game behind third-place Temple (12-5). East Carolina fell to 11-18 overall and 5-12 in the conference.

Memphis celebrated Senior Day before the game, and the Tigers' four seniors – Asianna Fuqua-Bey, Ariel Hearn, Mooriah Rowser and Brianna Wright – all played huge roles in the victory. The quartet accounted for 75 of Memphis' 93 points and 26 of the squad's 38 rebounds.

Hearn led the Tigers with a team-high 22 points, followed by Fuqua-Bey's 21, Rowser's 18 and Wright's 14. Hearn and Wright each grabbed a game-best nine rebounds, and Fuqua-Bey pulled down eight boards. With her eight rebounds, Fuqua-Bey moved into the No. 7 spot on the Memphis all-time rebound list with 791 boards.

Hearn's 22 points pushed her over the 1,900-point milestone for her career. She now has 1,901 career points and sits in the No. 8 spot on the Tigers all-time scoring list. Fuqua-Bey's 21 points tied her career high.

East Carolina's Jada Payne led all scorers with 28 points. Payne also had a team-high seven rebounds. Marina Laramie added 21 points and four boards. DeVaughn Gray (14) and I'Tiana Taylor (12) also netted double figures for the Pirates.

It looked as if East Carolina was going to avenge its Feb. 13 79-78 overtime loss to Memphis in Greenville, N.C., late in the fourth period. The Pirates grabbed a nine-point lead at 77-68 on a Payne layup with 2:06 left.

That's when the Tigers started their comeback.

Sixteen seconds later, a Rowser three-pointer cut the Pirates' lead to 77-71. After an East Carolina missed layup, Wright was fouled on the rebound and followed with two made free throws to slice the Pirates' lead even further at 77-73 with 1:20 left in regulation.

A Payne jumper pushed East Carolina's lead back to six at 79-73 with :59 left. But, that was the last regulation points for the Pirates.

On Memphis' next possession, Rowser was fouled on a three-point attempt and hit 2-of-3 from the line to pull the Tigers to with four at 79-75. Rowser's third attempt missed, and Memphis got the ball back after it went out-of-bounds off the Pirates. The Tigers took advantage of the miscue quickly, as Taylor Williams buried a three-pointer with :36 left to cut the lead to one at 79-78.

Down one and needing to foul, Memphis did so with :23 on the clock, but the Pirates also were called for a technical foul at the same time. The play ended with Rowser hitting 1-of-2 free throws to tie the game at 79-all.

Both teams had opportunities to win the game in the final 20 seconds, but neither squad capitalized and the game went to overtime.

In the extra session, Memphis scored the first five points and never looked back. Wright's two jumpers and clutch free throw shooting in the final 3:17 clinched the win for the Tigers.

In an un-Tigers-like way this season, Memphis got off to a solid start in the game's opening minutes. The Tigers held an 8-5 lead four minutes into the period before the Pirates netted seven-straight points for a 12-8 advantage. Payne started the run with a three-pointer, and Taylor capped it with two free throws.

From there, Memphis closed the first quarter's final five minutes with an 18-7 spurt. Hearn accounted for 14 of the 18 points in the run, scoring nine and assisting on two baskets that resulted in five points. Hearn's four-point play (trey, FT) put Memphis ahead 23-19 with :34 on the clock, and with :04 left before the first-quarter buzzer, she assisted on Williams' three-pointer for a 26-19 lead.

The Tigers carried that momentum and their spurt into the opening minutes of the second quarter, extending their advantage to 32-19 at the 8:13 mark. Memphis continued to hold a 13-point lead at 36-23 until 6:39 on the clock when the Pirates started chipping away at the lead. A 10-2 East Carolina run over the next four minutes pulled the Pirates to within five at 38-33. A Laramie three-point play and Payne and Taylor baskets keyed the run.

Memphis halted the East Carolina spurt with a Hearn jumper. The Tigers kept the Pirates at bay the remainder of the second quarter and held a 46-37 lead at halftime.

The Tigers continued to hold a seven-point advantage at 50-43 with 6:46 left in the third period. The Pirates, though, answered with an 11-3 run to take their first lead since 4:14 of the first period at 54-53 at the 3:59 mark. Laramie scored seven of East Carolina's 11 points in the spurt.

The Pirates built their lead to 59-53 before Memphis closed the third quarter with an 8-2 run to knot the score 61-all heading into the final period of regulation. A Brea Elmore trey and a Fuqua-Bey three-point play paced the Tigers' spurt.

Memphis shot 45.7 percent from the field, and East Carolina hit 51.5 percent from the floor. The Tigers hit 71 percent from the free throw line compared to the Pirates' 83.3 clip from the charity stripe. Memphis edged out East Carolina on the glass 38-37.

The Tigers wrap up regular-season play Monday, Feb. 29 with a 7 p.m. (CT) game at Houston.