Strong finish propels Tigers to first conference win Tuesday

Tuesday, January 21

Memphis, Tenn.

7 PM

University of Memphis

10-8,1-4AAC

SMU *

7-10,1-4AAC

SMU

Memphis

Photo by: Brandon Dill

Strong finish propels Tigers to first conference win Tuesday

Jan 21, 2020 | Women's Basketball

Box Score

Memphis finishes game on 17-4 run to down SMU

MEMPHIS, Tenn. – The University of Memphis women's basketball team used a 17-4 run in the final 7:15 to claim a 57-52 victory over SMU Tuesday evening. The win marked Memphis' first conference win of the season as the Tigers improve to 10-8 on the year.

Sophomore guard Jamirah Shutes scored eight out of the last nine points for Memphis, including four from the charity stripe with less than 35 seconds remaining to push Memphis to its first win against SMU at home since 2012. Shutes finished with a floor-high 14 points with four rebounds and two assists for Memphis.

Memphis struck first in the contest with freshman guard Madison Griggs' team-leading 49^th three-pointer of the 2019-20 season. After Memphis took an early 5-2 lead over the visiting Mustangs, SMU answered with a 6-0 run before the first media timeout.

Defense was the name of the game through the first 10 minutes of action as SMU held a narrow 14-9 advantage. The Mustangs were especially disruptive, forcing seven Memphis turnovers in the first period.

The Tigers rallied to come within one of SMU, 19-18, with 7:13 remaining in the half. Back-to-back baskets by SMU's Paige Bayliss, however, brought the Mustangs lead back up to five before the under-five media timeout.

Memphis cut SMU's lead back down to two, 23-21, with Lanetta Williams' third basket of the half at the 3:36 mark. That proved to be the final score for the Tigers in the first half as SMU's defense held the Tigers scoreless for the remainder of the half. The Mustangs' 27-21 lead at halftime was the largest lead during the defensive battle that was the first half.

SMU, the nation's 13^th-best rebounding team in the country, finished the first half with 18 boards to Memphis' 14 and eight second-chance points to the Tigers two.

The Mustangs extended their run to 8-0 to open the second half, building as much as a 10-point lead against Memphis. The home team responded with a 12-4 run of its own to come back within two, 35-33, as Alana Davis hit a jumper with 2:34 left in the third.

Memphis shot 57.1 percent from the floor in the third period and cut the deficit to four. Jamirah Shutes completed an old-fashioned three-point play to bring the Tigers within one before SMU responded with a late third-quarter three-pointer.

SMU's fourth quarter lead swelled to as many as eight with 5:32 on the clock before back-to-back three-pointers combined with a driving lay-up by Jamirah Shutes tied up the game at 50-50. After trading buckets and remaining tied at 52-52, momentum continued to shift it favor of the Tigers who took their first lead since the first quarter with 32 seconds remaining. A 5-0 run to close out the contest was part of a larger 17-4 run in the last seven minutes of the game.

The Tigers shot 50 percent for the game while holding SMU to 38.3 percent. The Mustangs did, however, shoot the ball 16 more times than Memphis. Memphis ultimately edged the Mustangs on the glass, 29-27.

Tiger Tidbits

Lanetta Williams, with three blocks, joined the top 10 list for most blocks in a single season by a Memphis freshman with 16.
Madison Griggs has made a three-pointer in the last 10 games. She finished with three, which improved her to a team-leading 51 made this season.
Griggs has hit at least three three-pointers 10 times this season.
Aerial Wilson scored a career-high nine points.
Alana Davis finished with nine points and five rebounds in 23 minutes of action.
The Memphis bench outscored SMU, 23-6.
The Tigers had five players score at least eight points while Jamirah Shutes led the Tigers with 14. Griggs added 10 points for Memphis, marking her 10^th double-digit performance.