In what has been an up and down season for the Tigers (10-10, 1-6 American Athletic Conference), they are currently trying to overcome their current two-game losing streak.
Their most recent defeat came on the road when they traveled to ECU to take on the Pirates (4-16, 1-6 AAC), despite strong performances from arguably their top player.
Sophomore guard, Jamirah Shutes had a career-high, 32 points in Tuesday’s contest and shot an impressive 69 percent from the field. It was also her highest shooting percentage of the season as she shot 9 of 13 from the field.
She also was perfect behind the arc and converted on all five of her three-point attempts. Her first time this season being perfect from three.
The Tigers held a 16-15 lead after the first quarter but would not be able to win the remaining quarters of the game.
What played such a pivotal role in their loss was their turnovers and ECU’s ability to convert from them. Memphis turned the ball over 22 times, and the Pirates scored 23 times off of the Tigers’ blunders.
In order for Memphis to not suffer that same fate in their game this upcoming Saturday against Tulsa, they have to be able to limit their turnovers.
Luckily for them, they will be returning to Elma Roane where they have a 6-4 record in front of their home crowd. In fact, their last win was in a home game against SMU, where they won 57-52.
It would be too much to ask for Shutes to score 32 points in back to back games, which means that other players are going to have to step up.
Forward, Dulcy Fankam Mendjiadeu has been a strong player in her first year with the Tigers and has been a go-to player in the paint.
Against the Pirates, she scored just two points, a far cry from her average 11.1 points. Going up against SMU’s interior defense, Mendjiadeu should be able to exploit them and have a bounce-back performance.
Another player worth mentioning is guard Madison Griggs, who has been a key player from behind the arc this season. Right now, she has 54 three-pointers this season, which is second best in the conference(she is a freshman).
She was 0-5 from three against ECU, but I expect that to be a different story on Saturday. It was only the fourth time this season that she didn’t make a long range shot in a game.
If those three players can get on the same page and do what they do best, it is not hard to see why they have a chance to get back on the winning side of things.
As of right now, Tulsa is 6-15 and currently on a two-game losing streak, just like the Tigers. However, they are 1-7 in conference play.
In terms of who needs the victory more, the Tigers take the cake as they seem like a team that has been more competitive and have the record to reflect that. But for them to win, they have to show the desire that they had earlier this season and do what they can to make it back to an over .500 record.
