Tigers Drop Hard-Fought Road Contest To Houston

Wednesday, February 7

Houston, Texas (Health & Physical Education Arena)

7:00 PM

University of Memphis

7-16, 2-8

Houston

19-6, 8-3

Memphis

Houston

Photo by: Joe Murphy

Feb 07, 2018 | Women's Basketball

Box Score

Memphis’ fourth quarter rally falls short after late run by Cougars

HOUSTON, Texas – A late offensive surge pushed the Houston Cougars past the University of Memphis women's basketball team Wednesday evening by a score of 66-55. The Tigers drop to 7-16 overall and 2-8 in American Athletic Conference play.

How It Happened
The Memphis defense was disruptive to start the contest, forcing eight Houston turnovers in the first quarter of action. In that span, Houston was also held to less than 25 percent from the floor while the Tigers went 5-for-11 with a slight, 9-8, edge on the boards.

Houston regained the lead from Memphis with back-to-back three-pointers to open up the second quarter. The Tigers responded with 7-0 run sparked by a pull-up jumper by Brea Elmore. Back-to-back three-pointers by Elmore and Jada Stinson combined with an Alana Davis lay-up with 2:34 before intermission gave the Tigers their largest lead of six over Houston.

The Cougars battled back out of the break and went on to outscore the Tigers 19-9 in the third quarter. The Houston defense continued to force Memphis turnovers en route to a four-point edge with 10 minutes to play.

After Memphis came back to tie up the contest with 2:05 remaining in the game, Houston put together a 12-1 to pull ahead of the Tigers.

Turning Point
Houston rattled off a 12-1 run in the final two minutes of the contest to pull away from the Tigers.

Notables

Alana Davis started in her second career game. She finished with her second collegiate double-double with 13 points and 11 rebounds in 33 minutes played.
Cheyenne Creighton led the Tigers with 15 points and was two rebounds shy of her 10^th double-double of the season.
In addition to the efforts of Creighton and Davis, Jada Stinson scored 13 with a pair of made three-pointers.
Brea Elmore matched her career-high of eight rebounds. She also had a team-leading four assists in 40 minutes played.
Memphis outrebounded Houston, 46-29, but struggled with 25 turnovers compared to 14 by the Cougars. The 46 rebounds was a season-high for the Tigers.

Melissa McFerrin Quotable
We got off to a good start. We committed defensively and committed on the boards. Our defense was good enough that they missed a lot of shots, except for Jasmyne Harris who hit three, three-pointers in the final quarter.

Next Up For The Tigers
Memphis returns home to take on SMU for the first time this season Saturday afternoon. Tip-off against the Mustangs is slated for 2 p.m. at the Elma Roane Fieldhouse. The game can be heard on 91.7 FM WUMR with Jeff Brightwell on the call and can be watched on the Memphis Tiger Network. For more information on the Memphis women's basketball team, follow the Tigers on Twitter at @MemphisWBB.