facebook twitter

Memphis owns men and women

Posted on Feb 09, 2010 in Sports

Share|

Men’s Basketball

Wesley Witherspoon scored 29 points and keyed a late Memphis rally as the Tigers defeated UAB 85-75 on Wednesday night.

Elliot Williams added 25 and seven assists for Memphis (16-6, 6-2 Conference USA), which has won 11 straight home games over UAB. The Blazers have not won a regular-season game in Memphis since Jan. 2, 1999.

Elijah Millsap led the Blazers with 18 points and nine rebounds, connecting on 7 of 11 from the field. Jamarr Sanders added 16 points and Howard Crawford finished with 13 points. Aaron Johnson had 12 points and eight assists for UAB (18-4, 6-2).

The game was close throughout with 31 lead changes and 10 ties. Neither team led by more than six points, until the stretch run.

With the game tied at 69 with 3:53 remaining, Witherspoon scored six unanswered points to give the Tigers the lead.

Women’s Basketball

Freshman guard Jala Harris led all scorers with 20 points, but it was not enough as the Blazers fell to the Memphis Tigers, 67-56, on Thursday night at Elma Roane Fieldhouse. Harris has cracked the 20-point margin in five consecutive games and eight of the last nine.

UAB falls to 10-10 overall and 4-4 in Conference USA. The Tigers take over the top spot in the conference at 6-2 and are 13-8 overall.

In addition to Harris’ 15th double-digit game of the year, the Madison, Ala., native also dished out four assists and had a steal.

Sophomore forward TaRonda Randall matched her career-high with seven rebounds to lead the team, while senior forward Erica Simpson chipped in nine points and six rebounds.

For Memphis, guard Alex Winchell and forward Nicole Dickson each scored 16, while guard Brittany Carter added 11.
UAB’s bench out-scored Memphis’ bench, 43-46, but the Tigers owned an 8-0 advantage in fast break points and 16-9 advantage in second chance points. The Blazers shot 39.6 percent to Memphis’ 43.9 percent and were out-rebounded, 40-35.

Although the Blazers out-scored the Tigers, 34-33, in the second half, they couldn’t overcome a 21-point first-half deficit. Turnovers plagued UAB early, with 15 in the first half compared to six in the second half.

The Tigers quickly jumped out to an 8-0 lead before going up by 21 with 3:29 left in the first half. The Blazers found a rhythm in the closing minutes of the early frame, going 4-of-4 to finish the half on a 9-0 run and cut Memphis’ lead to 34-22.

UAB held the Tigers scoreless until the 15:10 mark in the second, making it an 8:19 stretch spanning the break that Memphis went without scoring. The Blazers were able to trim the lead down to seven during the stretch, but that was as close as they would get.




Tags: , , , ,