After a hard-fought 59-56 victory against Tulsa last Saturday, the Memphis Tigers (9-12, 4-4 American Athletic Conference) prepare to take on the Wichita State Shockers (9-12, 2-6 AAC). These two teams faced off in a game that Memphis won 71-50 on the road in January. The Shockers will have added motivation to defeat the Tigers in order to get revenge and bounce-back from the 65-40 loss they took to the Temple Owls at home. With a victory, the Tigers could gain a tighter grasp on the AAC standings fifth seed and begin to gain some momentum as the regular season nears its end.
Memphis Tigers
Despite trailing by 11 points in the third quarter, the Tigers were able to overcome Tulsa’s lead and take the game for the second match in a row, earning a much needed victory after their loss against the Tulane Green Wave.w
Guard Jamirah Shutes returned to her early season form, scoring 24 points and leading all other scorers in the game. This was her first 20-point outing since the match against the Little Rock Trojans last December.
Shutes’ shining moment came towards the very end of the game when she scored five points in the final three minutes of action, including two free throws in the last six seconds to put the game away.
When asked by the media how she felt after the game, a noticeably happy Shutes credited both her team and her coach for her success.
“It was amazing,” Shutes said. “When your head coach and your team believes in you, it only makes you want to do anything to succeed for them.”
Fellow Tigers Gazmyne Herndon and Brianna Porter both made big contributions to the game as well. Coming off the bench, Herndon had nine points, six rebounds, four assists, a block and a steal. Porter made her presence on defense known with seven defensive rebounds and three blocked shots in just 20 minutes of play.
Wichita State Shockers
Against Temple, the Shockers had a difficult time getting their shots to fall, converting just 28.1 percent of their shots from the field. Leading scorer and guard Carla Bremaud led the team with 12 points and shot a respectable 5-7 from the field. Right behind her was fellow guard Seraphine Bastin, who had 11 points. No other player shot more than four points.
The Shockers’ biggest struggles came during the fourth quarter when they were outscored 20-1 in what was a six-point game after the third quarter. Their only point came from a field goal scored by guard Cesaria Ambrosio.
Shockers head coach Keitha Adams spoke with the press after the game to explain what she believes cost her team the game.
“They outworked us and they outplayed us,” Adams said. “We couldn’t make our threes. We missed a lot of layups, and it was very frustrating. We just got our butts kicked on the boards. When you don’t rebound it and when you’re not shooting well, that’s a bad combination.”Defensively, they held Temple to just 39.1 percent from the field, but couldn’t seem to stop sophomore forward Mia Davis, who had a double-double of 30 points and 13 rebounds, all while shooting 60 percent from beyond the three-point line.
Score prediction
The Tigers have already beaten the Shockers this season, and I believe they will be able to do it again as they ride into this game with momentum.
Early in the game, it won’t be surprising to see Wichita State try to get their offense going after such a poor showing against Temple, but I believe that Memphis’ defense will be able to keep that in check.
Final score: Memphis 68-57
Guard Taylor Barnes (left) brings the ball up court. Barnes was the team’s leading returning scorer from last season.
