Tigers Host Rice Before Heading South to Tulane

MEMPHIS, Tenn. – The University of Memphis women's basketball team continues its last bits of American Athletic Conference play this week when it hosts Rice University on Tuesday before heading to New Orleans to face off with Tulane Saturday afternoon.

Tuesday's game inside Elma Roane Fieldhouse is slated for a 7 p.m. tip-off while Saturday's game at Tulane will tip at 2 p.m. Coverage for both games can be found on ESPN+.

Memphis (9-15, 5-8 AAC) is coming off its second come from behind victory this season after taking the 72-70 victory over East Carolina on Saturday. Behind a career day from Shelbee Brown, the Tigers strung together a 29-point fourth quarter to down the Pirates. Brown went on to lead the team with 19 points and 10 rebounds while adding in four steals and two assists.

Along with Brown's performance, Madison Griggs and Alasia Smith punched in career milestones; Griggs surpassed 1,500 points on a game-tying three-pointer in the fourth quarter while Smith hit 1,000 career rebounds on an offensive board mid-way through the fourth frame.

As a team, Memphis forced East Carolina into 24 turnovers, nine of them coming in the final 10 minutes of action.

Rice (15-10, 9-5 AAC) is coming off an 87-74 loss to UAB that snapped a three-game win streak. The Owls, who held a lead through most of the third quarter, saw the Blazers make their comeback in the second half after shooting nearly 70 percent from the field.

For the season, Dominique Ennis leads the team with 12.4 points per game while Malia Fisher and Destiny Jackson are adding in a combined 23 points per contest. On the boards, Fisher and Jackson, along with Hailey Adams, have cleaned up for Rice with nearly a third of the team's rebounds coming from the trio.

Earlier this season when Memphis and Rice met, the Tigers came away with the 73-66 win after Smith, Griggs, Kai Carter and Hannah Riddick all reached double-figure scoring while Smith and Riddick picked up double-doubles with 13 and 12 rebounds, respectively.

Tulane (10-14, 3-10 AAC) is currently on a three-game losing skid that was extended last week when the Green Wave fell 63-53 to SMU. After the Mustangs pushed their lead out to as much as 15 in the fourth quarter, Tulane got three-pointers from Hannah Pratt and Jaylee Womack but would not be able to cut into SMU's lead.

For the season, Kyren Whittington leads the team with 16.5 points per game while Marta Galic, Hannah Pratt and Amira Mabry are all averaging double-figures. Along with Pratt and Mabry with rebounding, Irina Parau is leading the Green Wave with a team-high 155 rebounds this season.

The Tigers and Tulane met less than two weeks ago in the Fieldhouse where Memphis walked away with the 80-79 overtime win.

After finding themselves down by as much as 12, Memphis came back to take the lead in the fourth quarter, even pushing its lead out to as much as 10. The Green Wave tied the game in the final seconds of regulation, but it was the duo of Griggs and Smith that put the Tigers up in overtime to give Memphis the win.

How to follow the Tigers: For complete information on Memphis Tigers Basketball, visit www.GoTigersGo.com and follow the team's social media channels on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Shelbee Brown

Kai Carter

Madison Griggs

Hannah Riddick

Alasia Smith

University of Memphis Athletics