University of Memphis Athletics
University of Memphis
Charlotte
Tigers Head to North Carolina to Open Conference Play
Dec 30, 2025 | Women's Basketball
CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Memphis women's basketball begins American Conference play on Wednesday afternoon, a New Year's Eve battle at Charlotte slated for 2 p.m. CT.
The conference opener marks the first of two road games to begin conference play for the Tigers (6-7), as they will take on East Carolina on Saturday, January 3, at 1 p.m. CT before returning home for the home opener against Florida Atlantic on Wednesday, January 7, at 7 p.m.
Memphis is coming off a second consecutive victory, a 107-63 thrashing of Rust in which six players reached double figures. They won their final three home games of the non-conference schedule after dropping the opening three. Chaé Harris is third in the conference with 14.5 points per game, and Daejah Richmond is third in steals (2.5).
Game One: Charlotte
It's a battle of third-year American Conference head coaches on the final day of 2025, as both Alex Simmons and Charlotte's Tomekia Reed were hired in April 2024. The 49ers (6-7) played one common opponent in the non-conference schedule, falling to ETSU, whom Memphis defeated on November 22.
Since joining the American in 2023, Charlotte has beaten the Tigers in both seasons, including a 67-59 victory at Elma Roane Fieldhouse last season despite 19 points from Tilly Boler. The 49ers have a three-game winning streak dating back to 2005, but Memphis owns the all-time advantage, 10-6.
Despite ranking ninth nationally in offensive rebounds per game (17.2), Charlotte struggles to clean the defensive glass, ranking 330th of 259 in defensive boards per contest (22.1). Bethune-Cookman transfer Asianae Nicholson leads the way with 7.8 rebounds per game, with 4.2 of them coming on the offensive glass.
Guard Princess Anderson is one of the highest-usage players in the country, averaging 13.4 points per game in just over 20 minutes. A transfer from Wichita State, Anderson scored 11 points last season in Memphis' 93-83 victory over the Shockers.
Game Two: East Carolina
Few American Conference teams have more history than Memphis does with the Pirates (8-5). With 46 all-time matchups dating back to 2001, ECU leads the series with 24 wins. In 40 regular season battles, the two teams are 20-20 following Memphis' 75-69 victory at Elma Roane Fieldhouse last season. The squads have faced off in each of the last four conference tournaments with the Pirates taking three of them.
Kim McNeill is in her seventh season at the helm in Greenville, coming off their third consecutive winning season. East Carolina and UAB will open the conference season on Tuesday, December 30, in Greenville before the Tigers come to town for Saturday's afternoon game.
East Carolina had one of the best offenses in the conference in the non-conference slate, averaging 71.8 points per game behind an average of 22 free throw attempts. Four different players get to the line three-plus times per contest, and their 74.8% conversion rate is a top-75 figure in the nation.
Taylor Barner, Kennedy Fauntleroy and Anzhane Hutton all provide double-digit scoring for the Pirates, and the latter leads the team with 6.5 boards per game. They play with the second-fastest tempo in the conference behind Memphis, per BartTorvik.com.
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