After picking up a win in its last time out against ETSU, Memphis women's basketball finished off a four-game homestand on Tuesday evening strong with a 70-64 win of the Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns.
The Tigers, who are now back above .500 on the season, will look to ride the momentum of a win streak into a stacked MLE in the Cayman Islands and throughout the rest of the non-conference slate.
"We continue to find ways to win and that's what it's all about right now," Memphis coach Alex Simmons said postgame. "I'd be a little concerned if we were playing really, really good right now this early in the season. So, we're just going to continue to get better every day."
The game started off hot offensively for both teams. Memphis struck first with a 10-0 run led by senior guard Chaé Harris, who hit two of her five total three-pointers during this stretch. Not to be outdone, Louisiana immediately went on an 8-0 run of its own when Harris was subbed out of the game.
Led by Lily Ba, Bianca Silva and Imani Daniel, who all finished in double digits, the visitors stayed in the game offensively. These three combined for 47 of the Ragin' Cajun's' 64 points.
Once Harris checked back in to the game, she picked up right where she left off. She had 10 points in the second period, finishing the game with 21, and made key plays on defense including a nasty chase-down block.
"To start the game, her spacing was really good, her pace was really good and she was playing in motion," Simmons said about Harris in the first half.
While Harris' electric scoring kept Memphis afloat, it was the defense of the Tigers that allowed them to build a 12-point halftime lead over the Ragin' Cajuns. The visitors turned the ball over 11 times and shot just 26.3% from the field in the second quarter; the only edge they had over the home team was in the rebound department, where Louisiana boasted a plus-seven rebound differential.
When the teams returned from the locker rooms, they started once again to throw haymakers at each other. The Ragin' Cajuns opened the second half scoring five straight points before Memphis proceeded to blow the game wide open with a monster 12-0 run to bring the lead as high as 17 points.
The rebounding also swung in the favor of the home team because of a career night from junior forward Paris Gaines. She finished with a career high in points (17), rebounds (12) and offensive rebounds (eight); she was also the first Tiger of the season to record a double-double.
"Super proud of Paris Gaines coming off the bench, looking to score, being effective and affecting the game immediately," Simmons said.
Despite the visitors attempting a furious 11-point comeback in the fourth quarter, the Tigers were able to hang on and secure their fourth win of the year and finish 2-2 in the longest homestand of the season.
Looking ahead, Memphis has two tough games against power-conference foes in the SEC's Florida and Big East's St. John's, but Simmons says that her team will be ready this weekend.
"We just have to be ready to play, regardless of who we're playing," she said. "I like taking teams to these types of tournaments. It gives you a neutral court and normally good competition, but we just got to go in ready to play."
The Tigers will be back in action on Friday for game one of The Cayman Island Classic against Florida at 6:30 p.m. CT. The game will be streamed on FloCollege, which you can sign up for here.
