Dec. 3, 2008

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MEMPHIS, Tenn. - -

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Memphis (5-3) pulled within four to trail Arkansas 66-62 with 2:55 to play, but ran out of options as the Razorbacks closed out a 76-69 victory over the Tigers at FedExForum, Wednesday night.

"From about the 16-minute timeout to about the eight or six minute mark, I don't think we believed that we had a chance to beat this team," Head Coach Melissa McFerrin said. "And that was when they spread the score out on us. We have to believe that we can go out and get teams that are better. I'll be honest, it wasn't in their eyes when they sat down for the timeouts. It's something that we have to do, we have to compete in that part of the game. Tonight, I think we were wondering when the next step would be and this is our next growth step."

Memphis struggled with turnovers all night, committing 14 in the first half, while giving up 24 points in the paint in the opening 20 minutes. The Arkansas defense pressured the Tigers, forcing the Memphis guards in to six turnovers. The trouble getting the ball inside to the posts put more pressure on the Tiger shooters and Memphis went 3-for-14 from the field in the opening minutes, helping Arkansas build a 36-28 half time lead.

After getting down early against Ole Miss a little over two weeks ago, the question coming in to the second half Wednesday night was to see if the Tigers could summon a drive to pull back in to the game. The early answer came from Arkansas, as the Razorbacks pushed the lead to double-digits at 51-40 with 12:34 to play. That lead would build to as many as 15, at 61-46 with 6:42 to play before Memphis found an answer.

Paris Leonard scored eight points, six of them at the free-throw line to pull Memphis to 63-52 down with 5:09 to play. Arkansas answered with a quick layup, but Ashley Thornton then converted two free-throws to answer. With the lead back to 11, the Tigers went on a 8-1 run, powered by a pair of buckets from Savannah Ellis and a pair of free-throws from Leonard that cut the lead to 66-62 with 2:55 to play.

"Arkansas gave it to us a couple of times and we hit a couple of shots," McFerrin said. "During that grind time, when things are hard, I thought that was where we lost it. I thought fatigue played a bit of a role, but we turned the ball over enough and gave them some layups and it's hard to win when you give up 76 points."

But Whitney Jones broke lose for a layup and Shanita Arnold scored four points in the next minute to keep Memphis at bay. The Tigers would foul and a late Leonard three-point field goal would cut the deficit to 74-69, but time ran out on Memphis, snapping a three-game win streak and handing Memphis its first home loss of the season.

Paris Leonard led all scorers with 27 points, adding four steals in 36 minutes. Tehani Goldsmith had her best scoring night of the season, finishing with 14 points on 5-for-9 shooting. Savannah Ellis led all rebounders with 12 boards, and fell just short of her second career double-double with eight points.

A pair of Razorbacks had double-doubles, led by a 15-point, 10-rebound effort from Ceira Ricketts, who also added five steals. Whitney Jones added a double-double of 12 points and 11 rebounds in the win. Arkansas would force 27 Memphis turnovers, via 20 Razorback steals, and would add six blocks in the win.

Memphis now breaks for final exams and will return to FedExForum for a Dec. 11th game against South Alabama, at 7 p.m.