Adam's Apple

Tuesday, February 1, 2011

Tigers trounce hobbled Golden Eagles, 78-58

Tigers trounce hobbled Golden Eagles, 78-58

By Adam Douglas
Sports Reporter

In the University of Memphis women's basketball team's annual Pink Zone game — in which the Tigers wear pink uniforms and fans are encouraged to wear pink in order to raise breast cancer awareness — the Tigers defeated the University of Southern Mississippi Golden Eagles 78-58 at FedExForum in front of an announced crowd of 1,787 on Sunday afternoon. Sunday's game, which was broadcast on CBS College Sports and CSS, was the Tigers' second televised game in two weeks. On Sunday, Jan. 23, the Tigers fell at Houston, 81-68.

"Our game plan was to get the ball into the paint, and I thought we just settled for jumper after jumper after jumper," U of M coach Melissa McFerrin said. "I really thought we got on our scoring spurt once we put Jasmine Lee and Nicole Dickson in the game, and they just started hitting shots. And that's what they're supposed to do."

Dickson led all scorers with 20 points off the bench, including four three pointers, while Lee chipped in with 14 points and 10 rebounds.

The Tigers (16-6, 4-3 Conference USA) started the game on a tear, and had already doubled up the Golden Eagles (9-12, 4-4) in scoring, 20-10, with 10:42 left in the first half. Dickson was electric in the first half, coming off the bench for 13 points, including three of her four three-point baskets. Behind Dickson, the Tigers turned a tie into an 8-point lead.

The Tigers pushed their lead to 16, 42-26, by halftime.
After the break, The U of M increased the lead to 22 points, 50-28, over the shorthanded Golden Eagles, who dressed only nine players because five players were out due to various season-ending injuries.

A 10-2 Southern Miss run from 10:16 until 7:04 pulled the Golden Eagles within 11, but 24 forced turnovers by the Tigers hindered the Golden Eagles' chances of a complete comeback.

"I feel as though we're just sharing the ball more and we definitely have more scorers this year," said senior forward Taylor Mumphrey. "We are getting more comfortable with one another and playing better team ball also."

Senior guard Alex Winchell finished with a career-high 14 assists compared to just four turnovers. It was the first time a Tiger posted more than 10 assists in a game since LaToya Bullard did so against the Golden Eagles last season Feb. 12, 2010.

"I always tell my team that it is much easier to play and score points when you have multiple people putting up points," McFerrin said. "When Brittany (Carter) is scoring, Nicole (Dickson) scoring, Alex (Winchell), Jasmine (Lee) and even Ramses (Lonlack), then we can put up 70-80 points."

Tuesday, January 25, 2011

Will Barton named C-USA Freshman of the Week

University of Memphis freshman guard Will Barton was Conference USA Freshman of the Week on Monday, the league announced. Barton averaged 16.5 points, 6.5 rebounds, and 2.5 assists during last week's stretch that included two conference road wins at Southern Miss and at UAB.

He had 17 points and eight rebounds in Saturday's 76-73 overtime win against UAB.

"We need him to continue to get better. There's still a lot of room for growth for him," said U of M coach Josh Pastner. "He hasn't peaked at all, not even near. So, we're expecting big things from him, but it's still a work in progress. It's not going to happen overnight with him. But he's getting better."

Barton's younger brother, Antonio, has been the C-USA Freshman of the Week twice — the week of Nov. 15 and the week of Jan. 3.

Freshman guards Chris Crawford and Joe Jackson also received the award consecutively during the weeks of Dec. 20 and Dec. 27.

Freshman forward Tarik Black remains the only Tiger freshman — besides freshman forward Hippolyte Tsafack, who is likely going to medically redshirt — that hasn't received the award this season.

Tigers come up short against league-leading Cougars, fall 81-68

The University of Memphis women's basketball team can't seem to get it together on the big stage this season.

On Sunday night at Hofheinz Pavilion, the Tigers (14-6, 3-3 Conference USA) lost to the C-USA- leading University of Houston Cougars, 81-68. The game was tightly contested for much of the first half and midway through the second, but the Cougars used a 9-2 spurt to break away in the second half.

The Tigers' all-time record is an even .500 (20-20) when playing on television. The U of M is 1-5 when playing on CBS College Sports.

"The difference in the game was transition defense," said U of M head coach Melissa McFerrin. "That and the fact that Houston's Brittney Scott, who scored a team high with 20 points, got loose from the three point line. You combine the two, and we gave up a lot of points in those two ways."

The Cougars shot 50 percent from the field and 43 percent from long range for the game. Conversely, the Tigers shot 41 percent from the field and 27 percent from three.

The Tigers got off to a good start and led 9-6 at the under-16 media timeout. After the timeout, though, the Tigers went cold and allowed five different Cougars to score during an 11-0 run. The Cougars led, 17-9, with less than 12 minutes left in the first half.

The Cougars led 32-27 at halftime.

"I wasn't completely discouraged by this game," said McFerrin. "We obviously got some lessons to learn, and the fact is that Houston gained a lot of possessions in this game on loose balls and they turned them into points. That was the turning point of the game when it seemed like we had came up with the ball."

Memphis got the lead down to as little as three points in the second half, but empty trips on offense and a lack of offensive rebounds allowed Houston to convert several fast break opportunities. The Cougars also knocked down back-to-back 3-pointers to power an 8-0 run that stretched their lead to double-digits, 48-38.

The Tigers never got closer.

Memphis was led by junior guard Brittany Carter, who finished with 23 points and four rebounds. Jasmine Lee added 18 points and five rebounds off the bench.

"We couldn't find that third scorer tonight," said McFerrin. "I thought Brittany (Carter) and Jasmine (Lee) did all they could to help us. We needed Nicole Dickson tonight, but she didn't have it. And when you're playing Houston who has five really good players on the court at one time, we need at least three players to step up and help win the game."

The Tigers will play Marshall at the Cam Henderson Center in Huntington, W.Va., on Thursday at 6 p.m.

http://www.dailyhelmsman.com/sports/tigers-come-up-short-against-league-leading-cougars-fall-81-68-1.1915754

http://www.dailyhelmsman.com/sports/will-barton-named-c-usa-freshman-of-the-week-1.1915751

Friday, January 21, 2011

Untitled

Hello! This is Adam J Douglas letting you all know that my posterous is up and running!! As you probably know, I'm a sports writer for The Daily Helmsman so it would only be fair that my beat blog would be about the U of M sports! Please checkout my posterous to see and read some of my previous work done here at the U of M. I really look forward to keeping everyone current with what's going on in the world of sports here at Memphis. Lastly, as I write articles for the school, thye will be simutaneously put up on the beat blog for everyone to view. Thanks again for you're support, and GO TIGERS!!