Fourth quarter rally falls short as SMU downs Tigers

Monday, March 2

Dallas, Texas

7 PM

University of Memphis

13-16,4-12AAC

SMU *

13-15,7-9AAC

Memphis

SMU

Photo by: Brandon Dill

Fourth quarter rally falls short as SMU downs Tigers

Mar 02, 2020 | Women's Basketball

Box Score

Madison Griggs hit seven three-pointers to pace Memphis with 21 points

DALLAS, Texas – A late fourth quarter comeback fell short Monday evening as the University of Memphis women's basketball team finished the 2019-20 regular season with a 69-60 setback to SMU. The Tigers head into the American Athletic Conference Championship as the No. 11 seed with a 13-16 overall record, finishing 4-12 in league play.

Freshman guard Madison Griggs knocked down seven three-pointers to pace the Tigers with 21 points. She also added a career-high eight rebounds. Senior Gazmyne Herndon turned in a 13-point, eight-assist effort for the Tigers.

Memphis and SMU started the first five minutes of the contest balanced with each other as neither team garnered more than a possession lead against the other. Herndon scored the first four points for the Tigers.

The Tigers found themselves in foul trouble early against the Mustangs and momentum started to shift in favor of SMU with a 10-0 run in the closing minutes of the first. A feed inside to Dulcy Fankam Mendjiadeu by Alana Davis snapped the SMU run.

Memphis forced a turnover in the opening seconds of the second quarter that resulted in the second three-pointer of the contest for Griggs. The triple cut SMU's lead down to four, 20-16.

Long-range shooting powered the Mustangs to a 43-27 lead in the first half. SMU sank a season-high six triples before intermission and finished going 7-for-17 from beyond the arc.

Memphis trimmed by SMU lead down by two in the third quarter, edging the Mustangs 13-11 in the stanza. Griggs knocked down a pair of triples and Aerial Wilson scored her first bucket of the game in the period. Both teams suffered scoring droughts in the quarter, which kept the Tigers from inching closer to the Mustangs.

Down but not out, Memphis cut a 20-point SMU lead with 7:41 remaining down to nine after Herndon knocked down a pair of free throws with 1:14 on the clock.

During Memphis' run, Griggs hit two more triples to up her game total to seven. This is the third game this season Griggs has knocked down at least seven three-pointers.

Nine points proved to be as close as Memphis would come as SMU managed to hold on for the home victory. Rebounding was balanced between the two teams, but SMU forced 24 Memphis turnovers which resulted in 15 points.

Memphis as the No. 11 seed will play in the 8 p.m. ET game against the No. 6 seed on Friday evening at Mohegan Sun Arena. For more information on the Memphis women's basketball team, go online to www.gotigersgo.com or on social media at @MemphisWBB.