Memphis Tigers vs. Tulsa Golden Hurricane takeaways
In a close Saturday afternoon contest, the University of Memphis women’s basketball team battled back from an 11-point lead in the third quarter to defeat the Tulsa Golden Hurricane, 59-56. This victory now ties the series between these two teams at one apiece. The Tigers season record is now 9-12 this season, and they’re back to being .500 American Athletic Conference play with a record of 4-4.
Tigers are experimenting to find which players can provide the biggest sparks
In what seems to be a pattern for the Tigers, they’ve once again changed their starting lineup around again. In this contest, they started guard Jada Stinson over Gazmyne Herndon, and forward Alana Davis returned to the starting lineup over Brianna Porter.
The changes didn’t just stop with the starting lineup but continued throughout the game. In the second quarter, freshman guard Malainna “Rudy” White, and forward Camille Buckhanon got to see the court.
In White’s last game against Cincinnati, where she played three minutes and committed one turnover. In the game against the Golden Hurricane, she played in three minutes and committed two personal fouls.
Buckhanon played in her first game since Jan. 19, when the team played against ECU. In that game, she played for one minute. In the game against the Golden Hurricane, she played three minutes and scored a quick bucket upon her entry into the game. She also committed a turnover.
Rebounds are becoming a major emphasis as the season winds down
After Wednesday’s loss against Tulane, Tigers’ head coach Melissa McFerrin challenged her team to improve their rebounding. She explained to the media that even though her team outrebounded Tulane 55-38, she said she believed that is what cost them the game.
“That game was won with the exception of one rebound with half a second to go,” McFerrin said. “We’d been talking about boxing out and how important that is, and on the last shot of the game, we missed three boxouts, and they got the ball and were able to score. That one was hard to take.”
Against the Golden Hurricane, the team got 38 rebounds, including six offensive rebounds. Those offensive rebounds led to the team getting nine-second chance points. Tulsa had 32 rebounds of their own with four-second chance points.
Jamirah Shutes returns to her early season shooting form
In Shutes’ first 15 games, there were only three times she didn’t score double-digits. In the last three games, her scoring-high was nine points. In the game against Tulsa, she led all scorers with 24 points.
She had her second-best shooting night of her career, hitting nine of her 14 shots, good for 64 percent from the field. She also shot 100 percent from the free throw line, making all four of her attempts and hit two of her three three-point attempts.
When Shutes spoke the media about what helped her elevate her play, she quickly gave the credit to her team.
“It’s my coaches and my team,” Shutes said. “I think they believe in me more than I do. Coach Melissa told me that no one could stop me but me. So, I just listened.”
Her impact didn’t stop when it came to shooting, she also had a substantial impact all over the court. She finished the game with four rebounds, two blocks and a steal.
Conclusion
No matter how bleak things may seem in the first half of play, the Tigers always manage to get their heads together to battle back. Against Tulane on Wednesday, they overcame a 13-point lead but failed to finish the game. Seeing them do that against Tulsa is refreshing and reminds fans how fiery this team can be.
They aren’t a team that can be counted out at any point of the game, especially when all of their pieces are working together as a cohesive unit. With Wichita State coming into town Wednesday, a team they’ve already defeated earlier in the season, they’ll go into that game with confidence and will be more than capable of pulling out another victory.
