The University of Memphis Lady Tiger basketball team got its first taste of a talented team and Memphis came away with a sour taste in its mouth.
The Tigers were outplayed by the Athletes In Action in the second half and dropped their final exhibition game 83-63.
“This was a reality game for us,” center Shannon Hamp said. “It let us know we aren’t where we need to be. We have a long, long way to go.”
The perimeter shooting of AIA stretched the Memphis defense and allowed AIA’s frontcourt to go one-on-one against the undersized Tiger post players.
“We got a little confused on defense,” said Jordie Soso, “It was a known fact that we needed to pick up our play on defense. Coach (Joye Lee-McNelis) didn’t have to say anything.”
Memphis’s poor shooting kept them from ever getting back into the game.
The Tigers shot just eight percent from three-point range and were unable to consistently get rebounds.
“I thought we did a horrible job of getting into a flow offensively in the second half,” McNelis said.
Three tigers finished in double figures scoring.
Hamp led all Tigers with 19 points and six boards. Junior guard Princess Swilley had 14 points, four rebounds and two assists while Soso, in her first game as a Tiger, added 10 points with two assists.
AIA’s Katie Voight was unstoppable from the perimeter scoring 23 points on 9 of 15 shooting and 3 of 4 from behind the stripe and also pulled down eight boards.
As a team AIA shot 51-percent from the floor and 50-percent from the perimeter. The stellar outside shooting caused the Memphis defense problems all night.
“Because of their shooting advantage, we weren’t able to crowd it down on defense like we normally would,” McNelis said.
Hamp was dominant in the first half scoring 15 points on 7 of 11 shooting, but only took three shots in the second half as the Tigers fell out of the game.
“We can’t win if we don’t get her the ball,” McNelis said. “She has to shoot more than she did in the second half.”
Soso, Hamp, Raven Rogers and Latrice Booker saw their first taste of action after sitting out the CBU game due to violations of team rules.
Charity Engenti, Rita Beckwith and Aesha Carter sat out Monday’s game for the same reasons.
Hamp said that the inconsistent lineup hasn’t affected the team’s play much, but that it was something was on her mind.
“I don’t think it’s that hard to play without (the suspended players),” Hamp said. “They were definitely missed by the players that did play are just as much of a team.”
