The University of Memphis women’s basketball team improved to 15-10 on the season as they defeated East Carolina 79-78 in overtime.
Saturday’s road win in Greensville, North Carolina, was the Lady Tigers third-straight win and their sixth win in the last seven games.
Memphis now finds themselves in fourth place with three regular season conference games remaining before the conference tournament in Storrs, Connecticut, beginning on March 4.
Head coach Melissa McFerrin and her team have already surpassed their win total from 2013-14 and 2014-15, winning 13 and 14 games respectively, and the Lady Tigers should finish with their highest seeding in the American Athletic Conference tournament, after finishing seventh in the conference’s first two seasons.
Memphis has games remaining at South Florida on Feb. 21 and at home against Temple on Feb. 18, who sit second and third in the conference standings respectively. The Tigers are two games back of both of those teams, but they have the opportunity to make up ground on both teams.
Under McFerrin, Memphis has finished as high as second in the conference, twice in 2009-10 and 2011-12, but both of those came when Memphis was a part of the Conference USA.
The Tigers have the opportunity to finish second in the conference this year, but they will need some help. They need to beat Temple and USF, and they’ll need both of them to lose at least one of their three remaining conference games – they play each other Feb. 27.
If Memphis beats Temple and USF and both of those teams lose another conference game, the Tigers would own the head-to-head tiebreaker over USF and split the season series with Temple – meaning, Memphis has a chance to finish as high as second in the conference.
This season’s success has been due in large part to the play of senior guard Ariel Hearn, who is averaging a team-high 14.3 points, 4.3 rebounds and 3.9 assists.
Hearn, who was named to her fourth AAC Weekly Honor Roll of the season and tenth of her career, scored 22 points and dished out eight assists in Saturday’s win at ECU, and came up with 33 points in an upset with over then No. 15-ranked USF in January.
Hearn’s backcourt mate, junior Mooriah Rowser, ranks second on the team in scoring at 10.0 points per game, and she’s reached double figures 11 times this season, including 26-point outburst in a win over UCF.
Seniors Brianna Wright and Asianna Fuqua-Bey, the two post players for the Lady Tigers, are combining to average 16.4 points, 12.4 rebounds and more than a block per game.
McFerrin plays a relatively tight rotation with eight players averaging more than 17 minutes played per game, allowing players to get used to playing with one another, and preparing them for tournament play when the rotations tend to shrink.
The Tigers are getting a combined 15.2 points, 7.8 rebounds and 3.1 assists from their three main reserves – sophomores Cheyenne Creighton and Brea Elmore and junior Taylor Williams.
The Tigers will play again in an important conference matchup at home against Temple on Thursday, Feb. 18 at 7 p.m.
Memphis Tigers senior guard Ariel Hearn, who is averaging a team-high 14.3 points, 4.3 rebounds and 3.9 assists. The Tigers are 15-10 after winning six of its last seven games. Photo by Joe Murphy
