Memphis Women's Basketball played their first of two games in FedEx Forum against in-state rival Tennessee. Despite the final score being 90-75, Memphis played the No. 18 team in the country extremely well and looks promising headed into conference play.
“I think Memphis definitely outplayed us today,” said Volunteers coach Kim Caldwell postgame. “They played harder than us.”
This game also marked the Memphis debut of Michigan State transfer DeeDee Hagemann, who absolutely showed out in her first game in blue. She put up 19 points against a Vols team that had her in mind coming into the game.
"She is a player," said Caldwell. “If we weren’t coaching against her, she’d be fun
to watch.”
“It was great being out there, my team held it down. They kept me going and kept me pushing, they kept me hype, and I feel like that’s why we had a lot of energy today in the game,” said Hagemann.
Another bright spot for the Tigers was Tilly Boler, she led the Tigers with 23 points and, according to Coach Alex Simmons, had “one of her best defensive games that she’s had all year.”
For Tennessee, it was a concerted team effort that propelled them ahead of Memphis in the second half. Six players finished in double digits and two of them, Talaysia Cooper and Zee Spearman, had a double-double.
While this game marks the seventh consecutive loss for the Tigers, this game felt different than a lot of the other ones. In many of the other games, Memphis just got in their own way with turnovers and other errors. Here, they just played a quality team that adjusted well at halftime.
“We played our game, we played a Memphis style of basketball,” said Coach Simmons. “Proud of the team, not proud of the result.”
The Tigers will be back in action on Saturday against Louisville in FedEx Forum.
