Women’s Basketball Comes Away Victorious In Opening Day Thriller

Friday, November 10

Memphis, Tenn.

7:00 PM

University of Memphis

1-0

Tennessee State

0-1

OT 1

Tennessee State

Memphis

Photo by: Joe Murphy

Women’s Basketball Comes Away Victorious In Opening Day Thriller

Nov 10, 2017 | Women's Basketball

Box Score

Five Tigers scored in double-digits in the victory

MEMPHIS, Tenn. – The University of Memphis women's basketball team came away victorious on opening night with a 79-75 overtime thriller against Tennessee State Friday. Five Tigers scored in double-digits in the win led by senior forward Cheyenne Creighton's 21. Memphis is now 1-0 on the year.

Memphis is now 7-3 in home openers under the direction of head coach Melissa McFerrin and have walked away with the win in the last five openers.

How It Happened
Through the first five minutes of action, neither team built any more than a three-point lead on the other. Out of the first media timeout, however, Tennessee State produced a 19-9 run into the second quarter to build a 12-point lead over Memphis.

A lay-up by Alyssa Dean with 6:27 left in the second quarter right after the Tennessee State run ignited an 18-0 rally by the Memphis offense. The Memphis run was capped by a pair of made three-pointers by Taylor Barnes and Jada Stinson. The Tigers went into the locker room with a six-point lead.

Tennessee State hung around and eventually cut back into the Memphis lead. With a pair of made free throws with 7:30 remaining in the game, Tennessee State tied up the contest at 56-56.

In the closing seconds of regulation with Memphis down two, senior Brea Elmore drove to the basket and tied up the game for the 10^th time to force overtime. After Tennessee State scored the first three points of the overtime period, the Memphis defense locked down and held them scoreless during a 7-0 run to end the ball game.

Turning Point
A 7-0 run in the final 3:53 of overtime by Memphis lifted the Tigers to the four-point victory. The run was started by a pair of free throws by Cheyenne Creighton and was ended by a pair of Taylor Barnes makes at the line.

Notables

Senior Brea Elmore extended her consecutive made three-point streak to 23 games after hitting the first one she took against Tennessee State.
Memphis closed out the second quarter on an 18-2 run. The Tigers then finished the game on a 7-0 run in overtime.
Taylor Barnes hit three, three-pointers, tying a career-high set in the win against USF in 2017. She finished the night going 3-for-5 from beyond the arc.
Cheyenne Creighton picked up where she left off with a team-high 21 points. She also recorded five steals, which is a new career-high.
Creighton opened the season with a double-double with 21 points and a team-high 12 rebounds. She now has seven double-doubles in her career.
Freshman Jada Stinson added 11 points off the bench for Memphis. She played in 29 minutes for Memphis.
Five Tigers scored in double-figures. In addition to Creighton and Stinson, Taylor Barnes added 14, Brea Elmore had 12 and Alyssa Dean finished with 10.
For the game, Memphis shot 50.0 percent and 44.4 percent from beyond the arc. The Tigers also outrebounded Tennessee State, 36-35.
There were 11 ties and eight lead changes in the game.

Melissa McFerrin Quotable
I felt like Tennessee State brought the game to us tonight. I was disappointed in that we turned the ball over too much and we fouled too much. We have to go back to work and continue to rep and get them to understand what we are trying to get done.

Next Up For The Tigers
Memphis will now go on the road for a game Sunday at Little Rock. Tip-off against the Trojans is scheduled for 3 p.m. and can be heard on the airwaves at 91.7 FM WUMR. For more information on the Memphis women's basketball team, follow the Tigers on Twitter at @MemphisWBB or go online to www.gotigersgo.com.