Postponed games, Senior Day, the postseason, a tenured coach retired and a new interim head coach all came knocking at once on the door for the Memphis Women's Basketball team.
Several notable things are happening for the team at the end of this regular season, all seemingly at once. In a year already plagued with troubles for almost every athletic team in country, the Memphis Women's Basketball team (4-10, 2-7 AAC) took more blows late in the season.
Coach Melissa McFerrin hung up the whistle and was publicly retired on Feb. 14. This was one day after the team lost to the Houston Cougars by 21 points. Simultaneously, it was announced that associate head coach Michele Savage was finishing the rest of the season as interim head coach.
McFerrin was in her 13th season with the team and her 17th collegiate season overall. She coached 392 games for the Tigers, resulting in a 193-199 record as the head coach for Memphis.
McFerrin's temporary replacement came to Memphis after working with the Davidson College basketball team in North Carolina from 2010 to 2017. Michele Savage has worked an associate head coach for the Memphis team since then. Savage has been given control of the team now as interim head coach.
Savage received control of the team that cannot finish above .500 by the end of the regular season. Three straight games have been postponed since Savage stepped up due to the weather conditions that shut Memphis, and most of the surrounding area, completely down.
The Memphis Tigers have only played 14 games so far. They are tied for the least number of games played among AAC teams that are still playing as of Feb. 22. The Tigers are tied with Wichita State, and the only American Athletic team that has played less games was SMU. The Mustangs played six total games and shut their season off for health concerns.
Back-to-back games against Wichita State were pulled and a game against Temple was skipped because of the winter storm. A Wichita State game was skipped earlier in mid-January, now time has run out to play the Shockers. However, the Tigers still have a chance to play the Temple Owls.
As it is planned, Senior Day will be against Tulane on Feb. 23. The Memphis Women's basketball team has three games to be played as of Feb. 22. Senior Day against Tulane, a road trip to play ECU and then to face Temple in the season-finale. The regular season is expected to conclude for the Tigers Mar. 2.
The last eight scheduled games for Memphis have had five postponements. The other three games were losses, and the Tigers have not won a game in February. Their last win was against Tulsa in Memphis back on Jan. 23.
The American Athletic Conference still has plans to host the Women's Basketball tournament. It is set for March 8-11 at the Dickies arena in Fort Worth, Texas.
As far as Memphis is concerned, the Tigers will likely be a low seed in the tournament standings. The last three teams left on the regular season schedule are above Memphis in the conference standings.
Anything is possible and the team may just be looking to finish strong at all costs. The cards are stacked against them given the most recent events; it is time to see how they play their hand.
