Women’s Basketball
The Lady Tigers improved to 2-1 in conference play Sunday evening as they knocked off Southern Miss, 65-55, at the Elma Roane Fieldhouse.
Senior center Melissa Abraham, playing with bruised ribs she suffered in a car accident Thursday, scored 18 points and pulled down 14 rebounds to lead Memphis (8-8, 2-1 in Conference USA). Abraham has recorded a double-double in four of her last seven games.
“This may be one of her best games in a gray uniform,” Lady Tiger Joye Lee-McNelis said of Abraham’s perfomance Sunday. “She was very stiff this morning at practice, but when she came out today she was ready to play and was key to this win.”
Memphis shot a stellar 50 percent (17-of-34) from the floor in the first half to open up a 43-20 halftime lead before holding off Southern Miss in the second half. The Lady Tigers made just 28.6 percent (8-of-28) of their shots in the second half and were outscored 35-22.
Junior center Shannon Hamp and freshman guard Raven Rogers each added 11 points while senior forward Lauren Jackson scored 10.
LaTasha Sumerall led USM with 18 points. The Lady Eagles dropped to 7-9 overall and remains winless (0-3) in conference play.
Memphis returns to action Friday night at 7 when it faces DePaul in Chicago.
Men’s Basketball
Memphis won for the seventh time in eight games while running its C-USA record to a perfect 3-0 Saturday as the Tigers beat Tulane, 78-70, in New Orleans.
Junior center Earl Barron and freshman guard Dajuan Wagner led the Tigers with 17 points apiece while Kelly Wise added 16 points and 10 rebounds. Wise’s double-double marked the 36th of his career, a C-USA record.
Tulane (9-5, 1-2 in C-USA), led by Brandon Brown’s career-high 29 points, managed to cut Memphis’ lead to 55-53 with 9:17 remaining in the game before a Barron three-pointer sparked a 7-0 Tiger run over the next three minutes.
The Tigers face South Florida tonight at 7 at The Pyramid.
Football
Memphis junior defensive back Glenn Sumter and junior receiver Ryan Johnson have both declared themselves eligible for the 2002 NFL Draft and will not return for their senior seasons at The U of M.
Sumter, a C-USA first-team defensive selection, finishes his career at Memphis with 13 interceptions, including a league-high six this season.
Johnson was Memphis’ fourth-leading receiver this season with 18 catches for 150 yards and one touchdown.
