Jan. 11, 2008

Complete Game Notes in PDF Format

Marketing and Promotions: All kids with an A on their last report card receive free admission and all Memphis Zoo members receive free admission with their membership card.

Pouncers' Pals will host a pre-game meal from noon to 1:00.

The Memphis Zoo was to be on hand with a post-game animal demonstration, but had to reschedule for March 1st.

The Saturday afternoon contest between the University of Memphis (3-12, 0-2 C-USA) and East Carolina University (6-9, 0-2 C-USA) will be the final C-USA home game played in the Elma Roane Fieldhouse during the month of January. The afternoon contest will feature a pair of league teams that are in the hunt for their first C-USA win of the season.

East Carolina is playing the final game in a three-game road swing to open league play. The defending C-USA champs are looking to snap a three-game losing streak, which includes an 84-77 overtime loss at UAB, Thursday night.

The Pirates hung with UAB all night, trailing just 35-33 at the half, then outscoring the Blazers 35-33 in the second half, forcing overtime. But UAB used a 16-9 scoring advantage in overtime to hand the Pirates their second C-USA road loss in as many games. Leading scorer LaCoya Terry, who averages 15.3 ppg coming in to Memphis, scored 26 points on 8-for-21 shooting, including an 8-for-10 stint from the free-throw line, while Jasmine Young, who is second on the team with a 14.1 ppg average, added 21 points, eight rebounds and 10 assists in the loss. Starting forward Nicole Days (7.5 ppg, 69.9 rpg) added 13 points and seven rebounds, while Gabriela Husarova (4.7 ppg, 2.9 rpg) added a double-double of 11 points and 12 rebounds.

Memphis is hoping to warm up after shooting 26.2 percent from the floor in the loss to Marshall. The Lady Tiger defense held, allowing Memphis to cut a one-time double-digit lead to just a four-point deficit at the half, but the Lady Tigers were a step slow on defense to open the second half, and after sending Marshall to the free-throw line just seven times in the entire first half, sent the Herd to the line seven times in the first two-and-a-half minutes. The Marshall players converted 6-of-7 from the line, stretching the lead back out to double-digits.

After a three from Jessica Hall, Memphis cut the deficit to 10 points with a little over six minutes to play, and the defense forced turnovers and contested shots on the next three trips down to Marshall's end of the court, but the Lady Tiger offense sputtered and committed three turnovers, allowing Marshall to get back on track and close out the victory, 61-47.

Memphis struggled on offense as leading scorer Paris Leonard managed just four points on 1-of-10 shooting, while Jessica Jackson was held scoreless on 0-for-5 shooting. Ashley Thornton was held to just four points, to further frustrate the Lady Tiger offense, as all three of those players were averaging double-digits coming in to the contest.

Memphis vs. East Carolina
This is the 10th meeting between Memphis and East Carolina, dating back to 2001-02 when ECU joined Conference USA. ECU leads the overall series, 6-3, and has won four straight meetings between the two teams heading in to Saturday afternoon's game.

Coaching Staff Link
This is the second straight game where there is a link between members of the opposing coaching staffs. Current Memphis assistant Emily Owens was an assistant coach under ECU head coach Sharon Baldwin-Tener at NAIA member Life University from 2000-2001 and as a graduate assistant coach at Mercer from 2001-02.

Hall Has 300 in Her Sights
Junior guard Jessica Hall is just 18 points away from passing the 300-point mark plateau through just 44 career games. Hall, who is averaging (10.8 ppg) well over double the amount of points she scored as a freshman (4.1 ppg), has 282 points heading in to the East Carolina game.

Bullard Leading Scorer For Second Straight Game
Point guard Latoya Bullard has been eligible to play with the Lady Tigers for exactly 30 days (as of gameday versus East Carolina) and has been the team's leading scorer in both of the first two Conference USA games. She is just 12 points from the 100-point career mark through just eight career games and is already tied for the team lead with 36 assists, while ranking second with 26 steals on the season. She is averaging 11.0 ppg and 4.9 rpg coming in to Saturday afternoon's game.

Jennings Six Points Shy of 500
Given that she came to Memphis with just two seasons, Aroha Jennings will not make the Lady Tiger 1,000-career point mark, but that does not distract from the impressive fact that just 15 games in to the 2007-08 season, Jennings is just six points shy of her 500th career point. Jennings already ranks 51st in career scoring at Memphis after playing in just 46 career games. Teammate Ashley Thornton is just 56 points from the 500 point mark, also having played in 46 career games.

Turned Up the Defense, But Turned Down the Shooting
The Lady Tigers held Marshall to just 61 points in the second game of the conference schedule. Early in the season, the Lady Tigers are ranked sixth in C-USA-only games in scoring defense, allowing 68.5 ppg. The 61 points against Marshall came against an offense that ranks fourth in the league with 71.0 ppg. But Memphis' offense, which is ranked sixth in all games so far this year, is ranked 10th in the league after averaging 55.0 ppg in the first two contests. Against Marshall, Memphis shot 26.2 percent from the field, its lowest shooting percentage of the season. Memphis also had a season-low six assists in that game and scored a season-low 47 points, but held a team to under 70 points for the first time this season.

Along the line of defense, Memphis ranks third in C-USA only games in turnover margin, holding a +2.00 advantage in the turnover category. A lot of that is due to the team's steal total. The Lady Tigers are tied for second with 12.00 steals per game against league foes and the team has tallied double-digit steals in five of the last six games, including the last four straight games. Memphis has gotten double-digit steals in all but three games since the addition of Latoya Bullard and Jessica Jackson to the line-up.