Dec. 20, 2008

Box Score

NASSAU, Bahamas - -

Complete Box Score in PDF Format

The University of Memphis women's basketball team (6-6) snapped a four-game losing streak with a 52-46 win over Winthrop (4-5) in the consolation game of the Sunsplash Shootout Saturday.

The Tigers used early pressure to build a big lead, going up by as many as 12 in the opening half, leading 20-8 with 11:19 to play. Winthrop cut that lead back to single digits, but still trailed Memphis 30-21 at the break after Paris Leonard and Ashley Thornton each scored 11 and 10 points, respectively, in the opening stanza.

But with the bulk of the Tigers' scoring coming from two players, Winthrop tried to close them down in the second half, and for 12 minutes it worked, as Memphis scored just one field goal in the first 12:15 of the second half. While the Memphis offense was stagnant, Winthrop used a pair of three-point field goals to cap off a 10-3 run that pulled them to just two down, 33-31 with 13:12 to play. Paris Leonard then knocked down her only three-point field goal of the game to put Memphis back up by five, but Winthrop went right at the Tiger defense in the paint and converted a bucket and one to tie the game for the second time at 36-36 with 11:44 to play.

Winthrop then used a 9-0 run to pull ahead 41-36 with 8:09 to play, with five of those points coming from Memphis native Jennifer Walker.

But Tehani Goldsmith scored all eight of her points in the final six minutes of the game, hitting a three at 6:18 to pull Memphis within two at 41-39. Under the Eagle basket, a double-foul was whistled on Walker from Winthrop and Savannah Ellis from Memphis. The Winthrop bench protested the call and received a technical foul, and Memphis opted to send senior Ashley Thornton to the free-throw line for the technical shots. Thornton knocked down both free-throws to tie the game at 41-41 with 5:47 to play. Memphis got the ball back after the technical foul and Paris Leonard drove in for the layup for a Memphis lead. But that lead was short-lived as Ashley Haugtvedt then converted a layup of her own to tie the game for the fourth time, at 43-43 with 5:02 to play.

But Goldsmith drew a foul, hitting both free-throws, then drove the lane and converted a layup with the shot clock winding down to put Memphis out front 47-43. Memphis then used an offensive stickback from Ellis and a Lonlack layup after a Winthrop free-throw to push the lead to 51-44 with 49 seconds to play.

Winthrop managed to turn the Tigers over on an in-bounds play and Ashley Fann knocked down a jumper to pull Winthrop within five, but Goldsmith was their again for the Tigers, hitting the first free-throw to seal the 52-46 victory.

Paris Leonard, who was named to the All-Tournament team, led all players with 16 points, while Ashley Thornton scored 14, including a 6-for-6 mark from the free-throw line. Thornton was just one rebound shy of a double-double, finishing with nine rebounds and a blocked Tiffany Rodd jumper from the top of the wing with 1:52 to play and the Tigers up by just four.

Tiffany Rodd finished with 12 points and three steals to lead Winthrop, while Memphis held leading scorer Ashley Fann to just four points.

Memphis will now break for the holidays with a 6-6 mark and has just one non-conference game remaining. The Tigers will travel to Tennessee Tech, Dec. 30th at 7 p.m. (CT).

-www.gotigersgo.com-