The women's basketball team is off to a good start as they prepare for a game with Tennessee State University on Thursday.
Along with their winning streak, the Tigers got a bit of good news. Senior guard and forward Brittany Carter, the C-USA pre-season player of the year, was named to the Women's Naismith Trophy Early Season Watch List Wednesday. She is currently Memphis' leading scorer with 15.5 points per game and ranks in the top 10 in Conference USA statistics in scoring, assists, blocked shots, three-point field goals made and assist/turnover ratio.
"Brittany Carter is a very talented young lady," said head coach Melissa McFerrin. "Brittany has worked very hard to be in this position. She wants to be a leader on our team, she wants to be the best player in this league, and Brittany wants to be a pro. Players come to Memphis because of players like Brittany Carter."
A native of Covington, Ga., Carter is the first Tiger to make the Naismith Trophy Award watch list and is also a two-time first team All-C-USA player. The Naismith Trophy Watch List is made up of the top women's college basketball players from 35 schools around the country. 51 student-athletes were selected to this season's Early Season Watch List. Carter is one of four players from the state of Tennessee on the list, but is the only representative from a Conference USA school. Players are selected based on player performances and expectations for the 2012 season.
Carter also currently holds the University of Memphis single-game scoring record (male or female) and currently ranks 17th in career scoring at Memphis with 1,147 points. She is also a candidate for the Lowe's Senior CLASS Award. She was one of 30 finalists on the national list for the award given to seniors in their final year of eligibility.
Memphis hosts Tennessee State tomorrow at 7 p.m. and NCAA tournament team UT-Martin Sunday at 2 p.m. at the Elma Roane Fieldhouse. The two games make up the last of a five-game home stretch before the The U of M begins a stint of road games for the majority of their December schedule.
This is the seventh meeting between the two Tennessee-based Tiger squads. Memphis leads the overall series 5-1. The Tigers have won three straight games in the series since Tennessee State won a game in Memphis 79-76 in the 1989-90 season.
