Taylor Barnes dribbles past a UCF defender. The Tigers lost to Tulane on Jan. 30 by one point in overtime.
Memphis Tigers vs. Tulane Green Wave takeaways
Despite their best efforts, the Memphis Tigers were unable to capitalize on a strong second half and fell to the Tulane Green Wave in overtime, 62 to 61. A last second reverse layup by Green Wave forward Krystal Freeman got the team back in position to win the game. They capitalized on the opportunity and outscored the Tigers six to five and have ended their three-game losing streak. The Tigers are now 3-4 in conference play and have fallen to fifth in American Athletic Conference standings.
Tigers willing to switch things up to find success
For the second time in two games, the Tigers made another change to their starting lineup. Against Tulane, they sat their second leading scorer, forward Alana Davis, and started Brianna Porter in favor of her. They also replaced Ashia Jones with Jasmine James and Jada Stinson with Gazmyne Herndon. Collectively, this new look starting group scored 41 of the team’s point.
When asked about the lineup changes, head coach Melissa McFerrin said the starting lineups are determined entirely by the players.
“We have a system that we call ‘dirty stats,’†McFerrin said. “Those are the hustle stats such as rebounding and deflections. So, every lineup is based on the ‘dirty stats’ from the game before. I don’t pick the starters, the players do.â€
Porter, in just her third start of the season, was the team’s second leading scorer with 11 points on a five for 10 shooting night. She also had seven rebounds and an assist. Davis was still effective off the bench, getting a double-double with 14 points and 12 rebounds.
The paint continues to be the Tigers’ go-to scoring destination
As the Tigers’ continue to find their footing with their outside scoring, points on the paint continue to be the key to their offense. At this game, 26 of their points came from the paint and were aided by their 19 offensive rebounds.
Tulane began to pull away in the second quarter because they were able to make their shots when Memphis couldn’t. They outscored the Tigers 28 to 14 in the quarter, and the Tigers were unable to generate enough offense to get back into the game.
In the second half and overtime, they were able to get their shot going a bit more, outscoring Tulane 36 to 24. They outscored Tulane 15 to 10 in the third quarter and shot a game-high 50 percent in the quarter, which them helped to get back into the game.
Overall, they shot 31.8 percent from the field and converted just two of their 18 three-point attempts. Those plays were made by guard Taylor Barnes in the second quarter and forward Kianna Coomber in the fourth quarter.
Guard Gazmyne Herndon boasts the most balanced skill set on the team
In a game that didn’t leave much to be excited about, guard Gazmyne Herndon showed why she was such a highly touted recruit and showcased an impact all over the court. She was the catalyst for the team’s third quarter comeback efforts.
In her fifth start in the last six games, she had four points, three assists, a steal, 12 rebounds, drew an offensive foul and had a team leading four blocks.
Herndon was asked about her defense and admitted it felt good to get so many blocks.
“It was very exciting,†Herndon said. “We normally don’t practice blocked shots and so being able to use my long arms to make big plays.â€
Conclusion
With the Tigers, you can see they’re talented and with such a young group, they have potential, but it just seems that they have yet to tap into it. We’ve seen flashes this season, most recently in their three-win streak that came to ahead when they suffered an 80-56 defeat to Cincinnati.
As Memphis inches closer to the AAC Tournament, they need to get back to the strong defensive ball that made them so competitive earlier in the month. They’ll have until this Saturday to try to get things together when they’ll face the Tulsa Golden Hurricane at home to try and split the season series 1-1.
Porter is looking forward to seeing Tulsa again and fixing their past mistakes against the Golden Hurricane.
“This is our court, and we got to protect our home court,†Porter said. “We know that we gave up too many easy baskets to Tulsa in the second half. We know that we can’t just get comfortable when we get a lead, we have to work to keep it.â€
