Memphis women’s basketball falls in AAC tournament quarterfinals

The No. 11 Memphis Tigers lost early in the American Athletic Conference after defeating the Temple Owls, 59-58, after mounting a 19-point comeback, aided by late game defensive heroics and a seemingly automatic shot from the three-point line in the fourth quarter.

They then set their sights to No. 3 Cincinnati Bearcats in the quarterfinals, where they were unable to make that same magic and were defeated, 68-48. Despite the loss, the team kept their heads held high as they prepare for what the 2019 season will bring.

Gazmyne Herndon steps up big against Temple

In the opening round of the AAC Tournament, the Tigers were set to face the Temple Owls, a team that defeated them in their final home game this past Monday.

Throughout much of the first three quarters, it seemed like the Tigers were going to face a similar result until their players rallied to mount a 19-point comeback victory, 59-58. This win was so monumental because it was the largest comeback in tournament history and were the Tigers’ first tournament win since defeating SMU in 2015.

A large reason why the Tigers had such a difficult time keeping up with the Owls at first is because they were only able to connect on 29.2 percent of their shots. All but one of their players shot above 50 percent from the field, and it wasn’t from one of their usual leading scorers.

Guard Herndon led the team with 15 points, her third double digit scoring game of the season. She shot 6-9 from the field, good for 75 percent. Her offensive contributions didn’t end there as she helped create scoring opportunities, leading the team with seven assists.

Generating offense proves difficult against Cincinnati

Entering this year’s AAC Tournament, it was clear that Memphis’ offense would be faced with their share of struggles. As a team, they shot 35 percent from the field and in their two tournament games, they shot 29.2 and 28.6 percent respectively.

Against Cincinnati, they were unable to get into a rhythm and resulted in two players finishing the game with zero points. Guard Jamirah Shutes, was the team’s only positive in the first half, scoring 15 points. She finished the game with 20 points and three three-pointers.

These problems weren’t helped by the team’s 13 turnovers and Cincinnati’s ability to capitalize on them. Of their total 68 points, 15 came off of turnovers, while Memphis was only able to score seven points off Cincinnati’s 10.

Conclusion 

For the Tigers to pick up a victory in the AAC Tournament is a positive, especially with how they were able to pick up the victory. Though the Cincinnati game didn’t yield the same result, just making it to the quarterfinals should be deemed an accomplishment.

This season saw a lot of unexpected turnover to the Tigers’ team, but they benefitted from the additions of their new players. Shutes and Herndon were key members of team and show the future is bright for the young team, not to mention promising recruits, forward Lanetta Williams and guard Madison Griggs.

If those recruits can have similar impacts as those of their predecessors, there’s no limit to how far the Tigers’ program can go next season.