Jan. 7, 2009
Complete Game Notes in PDF Format 
Please note: A printing error on season tickets indicated that this game with UCF was being played at FedExForum, as was the Tulane game. Both games are being played at the Fieldhouse. The only remaining FedExForum game is Jan. 29th vs. UTEP.
After having a five-game winning streak on the Elma Roane Fieldhouse floor snapped on Sunday, the University of Memphis women's basketball team (7-7, 0-1 C-USA) will have its hands full when UCF (3-11, 1-0 C-USA) comes to town for a 7 p.m. game.
The Tigers had their two-game win streak snapped by a hot-shooting UAB squad, who connected on 12 three-point field goals in the league opener. The 12 triples was the most given up by the Tiger defense all season and the loss also marked the first time in four games that Memphis has led at the break and not won the game.
UCF's 3-11 overall record will be incredibly deceiving to folks who do not examine the Knights' schedule a little closer. UCF has already played at Colorado, Alabama and Florida State, and has hosted or played neutral games against Baylor, Wisconsin, Villanova, Miami, Wake Forest and Ole Miss. According to RealTimeRPI.com, the Knights have played the toughest non-conference schedule in Conference USA and have the 8th-toughest schedule in the country following the opening weekend play in Conference USA.
But where UAB hurt the Tigers from the outside, UCF has a force inside with sophomore center Emma Cannon. Cannon, a 6-2 forward, averages 14.3 points and 9.9 rebounds per game, adding nine blocks on the season. She is helped in scoring by sophomore guard Chelsie Wiley, who averages 11.9 points per game and who leads the team with 22 three-point field goals so far this season. Freshman guard Aisha Patrick adds 8.1 points per game and leads the squad with 40 assists and 31 steals, while sophomore guard Marshay White adds 7.4 points a night.
The Knights should not be lacking in the confidence department coming in to the Thursday night contest, having upended pre-season favorite Southern Miss in its league opener, 65-59, and having beaten Memphis last season on the Elma Roane floor on Memphis' senior day, 81-69.
About UCF
This is the eighth meeting between Memphis and UCF. UCF leads the overall series, 4-3, and snapped a two-game losing streak to the Tigers with an 81-69 victory at Memphis last season on the Tigers' senior day.
This will be the first-ever meeting between Melissa McFerrin and UCF and UCF head coach Joi Williams.
Lonlack Back?
Freshman guard Ramses Lonlack may have been one of the surprises early in the season for Tiger opponents, as the first year player has started every game so far this year and is the one who primarily draws the defensive responsibilities for the other team's ball-handlers.
But once opposing coaches saw Lonlack on tape, her numbers dropped from 10.1 points and 6.0 rebounds per game to 8.1 points. In a six-game stretch, the first-year player managed double-digits just one time (at Mississippi State) and was actually held scoreless and in the loss to UT Arlington, which also marked the first of three straight games Lonlack was held without a steal.
But in the conference opener against UAB, Lonlack may have gotten herself back on track, posting her second career double-double with 13 points and 10 rebounds, and snapping her steal-less streak with two picks against the Blazers.
The Low-Down
Memphis is a team that wants to keep the score low. When the Tigers hold their opponents to 65 points or under, they are 6-0. The Tigers are 1-2 when the opposition scores between 66-70 points, 0-3 when the opponents' point total is between 71-80 and 0-2 when its 81 or more.
Winchell Close to Career Top 10 in Triples
It's taken sophomore guard Alex Winchell just 44 career games to encroach on the career top 10 in three-point field goals. She has 50 field goal makes from beyond the arc, just two away from tying Heather Newlon's (1993-1997) 10th place mark of 52 threes. Winchell has already attempted 160 shots from three-point range, which already puts her in the career top 10.
Once Winchell gets to the 10th-place mark, she will need 13 more triples to tie former teammate Jessica Hall's mark of 65 threes.
They are FREE right?
The loss to UAB will irk the coaching staff for a number of reasons, but one of them will be that the Tigers chose the league opener to have their second-worst performance from the free-throw line. Memphis converted just 54.5 percent from the line (6-11), while sending UAB to the line for a 15-for-16 performance in the second half.
Time to Turn Up the Heat
Memphis got off to a quick 5-2 start through the first seven games of the season, and the Tiger defense was a big part of that, as Memphis had double-digit steals in four of the first seven games, finishing with nine steals in the other three games, and averaging 10.5 steals a game. But in the next seven games, as the opposition got better and teams got to see more tape on the Tigers, the theft rate dropped, as Memphis averaged just 7.0 steals a game. Memphis now averages 8.8 steals a game, but has only had eight or more steals in two of the last five games.
Needing to Finish
The UAB game marked the first time that the Tigers have led at the half and lost the game. Memphis is now 3-1 when it leads at the break.
Needing to Finish, Part II
Memphis' offense has slowed down as of late, and against UAB, the Tigers' players playing in the No. 5 position (center) accounted for just four points against a Blazer team with one bigger post player inside. Memphis' centers were 2-for-6 from the field in that game and did not earn a trip to the free-throw line.
They Were Enough Before
Memphis made 25 field goals in the game against UAB, the fourth time this season they had done so, but for the first time in four games, that wasn't enough even though UAB only knocked down 22 field goals. The difference was the Tigers gave up 12 shots from three-point range, and trading 2's for 3's meant the Tigers came up short on the scoreboard. The other three times Memphis has hit 25 field goals, it's meant a Tiger victory (SFA, Louisiana Tech, and Northern Arizona).
Three From....Thornton?
Forgive Tiger fans if they did a double-take when looking at the three-point shooters for Memphis against UAB. The usual suspects had a field goal from three-point range (Paris Leonard, Alex Winchell and Ramses Lonlack), but the team's leading three-point shooter percentage-wise was senior forward Ashley Thornton, who was 2-for-2 from beyond the arc. Coming in to the game, Thornton was 1-for-13 from beyond the arc for her entire Memphis career. If Thornton has added three-point shooting to her repertoire, Tiger opponents' might need to adjust their scouting reports.
Thornton Rolling Toward 1,000 Collegiate Point
Ashley Thornton might not make the 1,000 point mark in a Tiger uniform, but she is just 151 points shy of her 1,000 collegiate point coming in to the UCF game. Thornton has 705 points in a Memphis uniform, and would need to average over 20 points a game to get to the 1,000 point mark as a Tiger, but if you include her freshman campaign at Birmingham Southern, where she was named to the Big South All-Freshman team after scoring 144 points, she is just 151 points shy of her 1,000 collegiate point. In the next 15 regular season games, Thornton would need to average 10.1 ppg to be able to head in to the conference tournament with 1,000 collegiate points. Thornton is currently averaging 10.6 ppg.
Tigers in C-USA Openers
With the loss to UAB in the C-USA opener, the Tigers fall to 5-8 in league openers.
100 League Victories
Memphis closed last season with seven Conference USA victories. The Feb. 28th win against Southern Miss was the program's 100th league victory, making the Tigers' the third-winningest program in league history. Only Tulane (120) and Louisville (103) have more C-USA victories than the Memphis Tigers.
All-Time Victories in C-USA Play (thru 1/6/09)
Tulane (1995-present): 121
Louisville (1995-2005): 103
Memphis (1995-present): 100
DePaul (1995-2005): 94
Marquette (1995-2005): 92
UAB (1995-present): 89
Southern Miss (1995-present): 87
Cincinnati (1995-2005): 81
Houston (1995-present): 79
Charlotte (1995-2005): 58
USF (1995-2005): 46
East Carolina (2001-present): 45
Saint Louis (1995-2005): 44
TCU (2001-2005): 41
UTEP (2005-present): 32
SMU (2005-present): 31
Rice (2005-present): 27
Marshall (2005-present): 24
Tulsa (2005-present): 24
UCF (2005-present): 12
About Our Opponents:
Here is a look at how our past and upcoming opponents have fared as of late:
Northern Arizona (3-12, 0-2 Big Sky): Lost fourth straight game, 87-58 at Portland State; hosts Montana, Thursday.
Belmont (9-4, 4-0 A-Sun): Defeated Florida Gulf Coast, 60-55; hosts Campbell, Saturday.
Louisiana Tech (7-7): Fell at McNeese State, 71-66; opens league play at Nevada, Thursday.
Ole Miss (11-4): Open new year with a 79-72 win over Old Dominion; hosts Georgia in SEC play, Thursday.
Ohio (4-8): Lost 74-56 to No. 18/20 Florida; opens league play at Buffalo, Wednesday.
Wichita State (9-4, 1-1 MVC): Snapped a 20-game losing streak to Northern Iowa with a 64-53 win; plays at Drake, Thursday.
Stephen F. Austin (5-7): Fell at No. 10 Auburn, 79-56; opens league play at Sam Houston State, Saturday.
Arkansas (11-4): Fell at Texas Tech, 75-60; opens SEC play with LSU, Thursday.
South Alabama (11-4, 2-2 Sun Belt): Dropped two straight games in league play, falling at Florida Atlantic, 67-66, and 80-57 to Middle Tennessee; plays at UL Monroe, Wednesday.
Mississippi State (12-2): Lost to Xavier, 51-42; opens SEC play vs. Florida, Thursday.
UT Arlington (6-7): Defeated Houston Baptist, 66-57; hosts Texas State in league play, Saturday.
Winthrop (6-6, 1-0 Big South): Won second straight game, 61-38, over Johnson C.Smith; hosts Liberty in league play Saturday.
Tennessee Tech (3-10, 1-2 OVC): Fell to Eastern Illinois, 50-46; plays at Morehead State, Thursday.
UAB (6-8, 1-0 C-USA): Upended the Tigers in the C-USA opener; hosts Southern Miss, Thursday.
UCF (3-11, 1-0 C-USA): Upended pre-season favorite Southern Miss, 65-59; plays at Memphis Thursday.
Southern Miss (7-7, 0-1 C-USA): Dropped league opener at UCF; plays at UAB, Thursday.
Rice (5-8): Defeated George Washington, 78-68; plays at UTEP, Friday.
Houston (8-4): Fell at Kansas, 73-56; opens league play at Tulane, Friday.
East Carolina (10-4, 1-0 C-USA): Defeated Marshall, 70-47; plays at Tulsa, Thursday.
Marshall (7-6, 0-1 C-USA): Lost at East Carolina; plays at SMU, Thursday.
UTEP (7-7, 0-1 C-USA): Lost C-USA opener to Tulane, 57-48; hosts Rice, Friday.
Tulane (9-5, 1-0 C-USA): Won on the road at UTEP, 57-48; hosts Houston, Friday.
SMU (8-6, 1-0 C-USA): Defeated Tulsa, 67-56; hosts Marshall, Thursday.
Tulsa (4-9, 0-1 C-USA): Lost to UT San Antonio, 63-54; hosts East Carolina, Thursday.
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