The Lady Tigers have had their share of bad luck this season, and their record reflects it.
However, head coach Blair Savage-Lansden is optimistic about the rest of the year as the team enters the thick of conference play.
"I know a lot of coaches say it, but conference play is a whole new season for us," Savage said. "We have to think of it as a new beginning with every team having a chance to win."
However, so far the Lady Tigers are 0-4 in that new season, dropping games to Marshall, East Carolina, SMU and Tulsa. Memphis was more than doubled by Tulsa losing by a final score of 93-40 Sunday in Oklahoma.
Nevertheless, Memphis hopes to be more competitive than they were against their brutal non-conference foes, which included two nationally ranked opponents. While they lost those games, they were able to improve as a team.
"Anytime you play teams like the caliber of Arizona State and others, you will always improve as a team and take some lessons from it," Savage said.
Due to several injuries that have plagued the team, the Tigers will have to play the rest of the season with just eight players. Savage said it isn't the position she had hoped to be in, but many of the younger players are gaining experience such as freshmen Paris Leonard and Sherika Montgomery. Leonard has already passed the 200-point mark for her young career after just 14 games.
"The younger players are having to step in and play, and they are doing an outstanding job," Savage said. "It's giving them a chance to mature as players which is important."
One of the biggest concerns for the team is the lack of defensive rebounding. Savage-Lansden said the team has been in tight games with a chance to win, but the lack of rebounds has given the edge to their opponents and hurt the Tigers all season long.
"We had just seven rebounds in the first ten minutes against Marshall," she said. "You can't win ballgames without getting in there and fighting for the ball, and that's something we definitely have to improve."
Another potential problem is turnovers. Against East Carolina, the Lady Tigers had 16 first half turnovers. They recovered and came back in the second half, but it still was a problem that Savage is worried about.
"Obviously turnovers are a concern, but we have improved on that," she said. "Even in the East Carolina game we played a more secure second half, but we still need improvement in that area, too."
