Women's hoops finishes non-conference slate with 79-71 win against Alabama A&M

Monday, December 30

Memphis, Tenn.

5:30 PM

University of Memphis

9-4,0-0AAC

Alabama A&M

4-7,0-0SWAC

Team	1	2	3	4	F
Alabama A&M	17	10	23	21	71
Memphis	18	21	14	26	79

Photo by: Kaitlyn Becker Johnson

Women's hoops finishes non-conference slate with 79-71 win against Alabama A&M

Dec 30, 2019 | Women's Basketball

Box Score

Madison Griggs puts up a team-high 21 points as the Tigers improve to 9-4

MEMPHIS, Tenn. – The University of Memphis women's basketball team finished the 2019 non-conference slate with a 79-71 victory over Alabama A&M Monday evening. Memphis finishes the non-conference schedule with a 9-4 record, the best start to a season since the 2012-13 campaign.

Madison Griggs paced the Tigers with 21 points, 15 of those coming from beyond the arc for her sixth game this season with at least four made three-pointers. Gazmyne Herndon also had a complete game for Memphis, scoring 10 points while pulling in seven rebounds and dishing out seven assists.

Alabama A&M had a fast start, hitting its first two three-pointers of the contest to take an 8-5 lead against the Tigers. The Bulldogs continued to build its lead against Memphis to as many as seven, 15-8, with 3:35 left in the first quarter.

An 8-0 run sparked by a second-chance lay-up by Alana Davis propelled the Tigers into a 16-15 lead with 1:40 remaining in the quarter.

Jamirah Shutes hit three first half three-pointers to help ignite the Memphis offense. Griggs joined in on the fun from beyond the arc, hitting her first trey of the game with 4:28 remaining in the second quarter to give Memphis its first double-digit lead.

Trailing by 12 at the intermission, Alabama A&M responded with a 17-0 run to take the lead back from Memphis. With 4:52 on the clock in the third, Griggs hit her second three of the contest to snap the Bulldogs' run and bring the Tigers back within a possession.

A three as the clock expired in the third by Griggs lifted Memphis to a three-point edge, 53-50.

The two squads exchanged leads for the first three and a half minutes of the fourth quarter until back-to-back three-pointers by Griggs and Aerial Wilson gave the Tigers a five-point, 64-59, advantage over the visiting Bulldogs.

Herndon followed the pair of triples by the Memphis freshmen with a second-chance lay-up to give the Tigers a seven-point lead with 5:24 remaining.

Griggs continued her hot shooting with her fifth three of the game with 3:21 on the clock, lifting the Tigers to a 71-62 lead. After Griggs' triple, the Tigers kept Alabama A&M at bay, forcing the Bulldogs to foul as time expired.

Memphis shot 44.8 percent from the floor and 42.9 percent from beyond the arc. The Tigers forced 26 turnovers while outrebounding the Bulldogs, 39-37.

Tiger Tidbits

Madison Griggs hit five three-pointers to lead Memphis. It was the sixth time this season she recorded at least four made triples in a game. She leads the Tigers with 39 made triples this year, the fourth-most made by a freshman in program history.
Griggs finished with 21 points to pace the Tigers. This was her third 20-plus point performance of the season. Each of her 20-plus point performances came with at least five made three-pointers.
Gazmyne Herndon finished with 10 points, seven assists and seven rebounds.
Keke Hunter led Memphis with nine rebounds.
Three Tigers finished in double digits. In addition to Griggs and Herndon, Alana Davis posted a 15-point effort. Davis also led Memphis with four steals.
Memphis' bench outscored Alabama A&M's 46-20. The Tigers also had 38 points in the paint compared to 24 by the Bulldogs.
The Tigers, now 9-4, have their best start since 2012-13, when they also started 9-4 through 13 games.
Memphis posted an undefeated December, winning all five of its games. The last time the Tigers went undefeated for a calendar month was December 2010, when the team went 7-0.