The Memphis Tigers (12-11, 3-6 American Athletic Conference) suffered a tough loss to the #4 UConn Huskies (20-2, 10-0 AAC) on Friday Night.
Although they had a competitive outing in their previous meeting, the Huskies came out like a rocket in the first half, outscoring the Tigers 54-23. The Tigers had a bit better scoring output in the second half, but it was too late. They wound up losing the game 94-55.
Guard, Madison Griggs led the team with 15 points, all of her points coming from behind the three-point line. She was 5-11 from the field. With her latest performance, she’s now five threes away from tying Memphis’ single-season three-point record.
The only other player on the team who also scored double digits was forward, Keke Hunter. She was the most accurate shooter for the Tigers and shot 55.6 percent from the field.
Despite their low scoring output, their shooting improved in each quarter and led to them shooting 32.3 percent from the field.
UConn on the other hand shot 59.4 percent from the field and had four players who scored double digits. They were led by forward, Megan Walker who had 26 points and shot 50 percent from behind the three-point line.
Though it was a disappointing loss, the Tigers have to move on to their next game. A contest between the Wichita State Shockers (13-10, 5-5 AAC).
They’re currently on a two-game win streak with their most recent win coming against Temple, an 85-75 victory. Their second win against the Owls this season.
The Shockers were able to get quite a lot of production from their bench, including three players who had double digits coming off the bench.
As a team, they shot 50.8 percent from the field and an even better 55.6 percent from behind the three-point line. Guard, Ashley Reid led the way with five threes.
Defensively, they made sure that Temple didn’t have the same success from behind the arc where they shot 33.3 percent from long range.
They had their best defensive showing in the fourth quarter, when they held Temple to shooting 29.4 percent from the field.
This will be the first time that the Tigers and Shockers will be playing each other this season. The last time they played was February 6, 2019 where the Shockers beat the Tigers at home, 57-48.
In the last game, guard Jamirah Shutes was the team’s leading scorer, but with her out for the rest of the season with an injury, the Tigers will need someone else to step up.
With there still being no word on when Lanetta Williams will be able to play, it looks that the Tigers will still have to suit up seven players for this Wednesday’s game.
With their current seven player roster, they have a 2-1 record and are hoping that they can manage another win and increase their conference win total. Right now, they’re 10th in the conference standings and Wichita State are sixth. With an upset win, they can find a way to narrow the gap.
