Tigers Win Fourth-Straight At Home; Defeat ECU 72-50

Wednesday, February 15

Memphis, Tenn.

7:00 PM

University of Memphis

6-613-12; AAC

East Carolina

1-1210-16; AAC

East Carolina

Memphis

Photo by: Brandon Dill

Tigers Win Fourth-Straight At Home; Defeat ECU 72-50

Feb 15, 2017 | Women's Basketball

Box Score

Memphis has won five out of its last six games and four straight at the Elma Roane Fieldhouse

MEMPHIS, Tenn. – The University of Memphis women's basketball team won its fifth game in its last six and fourth straight home game en route to a 72-50 victory over East Carolina Wednesday evening. The victory improves the Tigers to 13-12 overall and 6-6 in American Athletic Conference play.

The victory at Elma Roane also gave the Tigers its 10^th win at home this season. Since head coach Melissa McFerrin took the helm in 2008, the Tigers have won 10 games at home four times.

How It Happened
The Tigers started hot from the floor, making their first seven shots. East Carolina, however, stayed within range of the sharp shooting Tigers as Memphis committed three turnovers in that span.

Memphis held on to a small lead over East Carolina until the 4:23 mark in the first when the Pirates took over their first lead. The squads exchanged the lead two more times in the first 10 minutes before ECU had a 24-21 lead at the first break.

A 7-0 run by Taylor Williams to start the second quarter turned the tables again in favor of Memphis. ECU had one more answer with a 6-0 run of its own through the heart of second quarter. That run proved to be the final offensive spurt the Pirates would have for the remainder of the contest.

A pair of free throws by Williams with 1:20 before the half changed the lead back in favor of the Tigers for the final time in the contest. A bucket by Brianna Porter as time expired put Memphis up by three at the half.

The Tigers went on to outscore ECU 34-15 in the second half and had a lead by as many as 25 in the closing minutes of the contest. The five points Memphis allowed in the third quarter matched a season-low.

Turning Point
Memphis held East Carolina to just five third quarter points while scoring 17 to break open the contest. In the first half, East Carolina had an answer for the Tigers offensively, but the Tigers never let the Pirates back in the game after the strong third quarter.

Notables

The Tigers started the game 7-for-7 from the floor. In that span, Breigha Wilder-Cochran had five assists.
Brea Elmore hit a three-pointer in the third quarter, making that 17 straight games with a made three.
This is the first game since Nicholls State on December 21, 2016 that every Tiger scored.
Taylor Williams made three three-pointers, making that six times this season she has made at least three threes. Williams finished with 19 points.
Cheyenne Creighton scored 19 points in just 22 minutes (season-low) played.
This is the third time this season Memphis has scored at least 70 points. This was also the largest margin of victory for Memphis this year.

Next Up For The Tigers
The Tigers will now travel to Cincinnati this weekend for the second game against the Bearcats this season. Tip-off against Cincinnati is set for 2 p.m. CT at Fifth Third Arena and will broadcast on ESPN3. For more information on the Memphis women's basketball team, follow the Tigers on Twitter at @MemphisWBB or go online to www.gotigersgo.com.