Nov. 16, 2008

Box Score

NASHVILLE, Tenn. - - The University of Memphis women's basketball team (1-1) battled, but came up short against a long-range shooting Belmont team, 69-60, Sunday afternoon. Belmont connected on 10 of 26 three-point field goal shots, including 7-of-15 in the first half to build an eight point half time lead that Memphis threatened, but was never able to seize away from the Bruins.

"We know when you've got shooters who spread the floor, they do a great job of spacing and they did a great job of hitting their shots tonight," Head Coach Melissa McFerrin said. "I thought there were two very critical times in the game. At 30-28 we made a defensive mistake, rotated with wrong coverage and gave up a three in corner and we cut it to 41-38 and they hit a three again. Those were our two opportunities to keep the game solid and very, very winnable and we let it get away."

Memphis trailed 36-28 at the half after giving up seven shots from three-point range, including three triples in the opening four minutes of the game. Belmont had five different Bruins connect on long-distance shots, out-doing any Memphis advantage at the free-throw line, where the Tigers connected on 10 of 12 attempts, and in rebounding, where Memphis led 21-12 at the break. Freshman Ramses Lonlack was a force in getting the Tigers out in to transition, stealing one ball and tracking down four offensive rebounds while scoring seven points in the opening 20 minutes.

"At this stage, I think their belief in what we're doing is very solid," McFerrin said. "It's hard to fully trust something you don't know that well yet. I don't think it's intentional by any fashion, but small, fundamental mistakes we make are costing us huge right now."

Senior forward Ashley Thornton grabbed her 10th career double-double, finishing with 15 points and 10 rebounds in 31 minutes. Ramses Lonlack finished with 11 points, including her seven first half points, while Tehani Goldsmith battled a tough shooting night, finishing with 10 points on 3-for-16 shooting from the floor. Guard Amber Rockwell led Belmont with 22 points on 7-of-12 shooting, while Jessica Bobbitt came back from first half foul trouble to finish with 10 points and eight rebounds.

The team will return home to host Louisiana Tech (1-0), Tuesday, at 7:05 p.m. Single game tickets are available to the game at from the Official University of Memphis website www.gotigersgo.com under Tickets.