Jan. 17, 2008
Complete Game Notes in PDF Format 
The University of Memphis women's basketball team will play a two-game road swing, beginning Friday at C-USA pre-season favorite Tulane, Friday, and at UTEP, one of the three remaining unbeatens in C-USA, Sunday.
Tulane comes in looking to snap a two-game league losing streak, having won their C-USA opener, 61-38 on the road at Rice, then falling 74-64 in a game at Houston and 81-66 in their C-USA home opener last weekend against UTEP.
Redshirt freshman Brittany Lindsey leads Tulane in scoring, averaging 11.5 points and 6.1 rebounds per game. The 6-0 forward also leads the team with 26 blocked shots on the season and ranks third in the league in field goal percentage, converting 54.1 percent of her shots on the season. Junior guard Ashley Langford, a C-USA third team honoree last season, also averages double-digits, scoring 10.9 ppg and leading the offense with 86 assists against just 44 turnovers on the season. Senior guard Nikki Luckhurst is the Green Wave sharp-shooter, connecting on 32 three-point field goals on the season, while averaging 8.8 points and 3.1 rebounds per game.
Tulane, which won the C-USA regular season title last season, went to the WNIT last season after getting upended by Rice in the conference tournament. The Green Wave won their opening game over Jackson State, 76-43, before falling to Mississippi State, 79-73.
This is the 32nd meeting between Memphis and the Green Wave. Memphis leads the overall series, 20-11, but has dropped games to Tulane in each of the past two seasons, including a 77-61 loss to the Green Wave in FedExForum last season.
The Lady Tigers snapped a four-game losing streak in their last outing, getting a career-high 21 point effort from Jessica Hall, and double-digit scoring from three other starters en route a 69-50 win over East Carolina. Memphis, which had its worst offensive shooting stroke (26.2 percent) from the field against Marshall on Thursday night, connected on 44.0 percent of their shots, including a season-best 57.1 percent stroke from three-point range.
Since league play has begun, sophomore point guard Latoya Bullard has exerted herself on the Memphis offense, leading the team with 17.3 ppg in three league contests, while adding 12 assists and 10 steals in the three games. Jessica Hall is second on the team with 11.7 ppg, and senior forward Aroha Jennings is averaging 9.7 ppg since league play began at UAB.
Memphis is still being out-rebounded on the glass, 43-35.3 in league play, with both Jessica Jackson and Ashley Thornton averaging 5.0 rebounds per night. Neither Jackson nor Thornton has managed a double-digit scoring night in league play so far this season.
Memphis vs. Tulane
This is the 32nd meeting between the Lady Tigers and the Green Wave and while Memphis leads the overall series 20-11, it's been Tulane with the upperhand in the last two meetings, winning 74-58 in the last game the two teams played in Fogelman Arena and winning 77-61 at FedExForum last season in the only meeting between the two teams.
Looking for a Season First
Memphis snapped a four-game losing streak with the 69-50 win over East Carolina and is looking to string together back-to-back wins for the first time this season. Memphis has not won in Fogelman Arena since 2000-01 when the two teams each won on the others' home floor. Memphis won that game 74-61 after falling 64-58 in the Fieldhouse earlier in the season.
Hall Coming Off Career Game
Jessica Hall is coming in to the Tulane game after scoring a career-high 21 points in the win over East Carolina. That was Hall's first career 20+ point game and pushed her past the 300 point mark in just 45 career games. She has already scored 60 more points this season than she did in her entire freshman season back in 2004-05. She then missed the next two seasons due to injury and stepped back in to the Memphis starting line-up in the second game of the year.
Leading Rebounder Against ECU Was...The Point Guard?
Memphis ranks 11th in Conference USA only games in rebounding margin (-7.7) and against East Carolina, the Lady Tigers' leading rebounder was starting point guard Latoya Bullard, who finished with six rebounds. Between the five post players, Memphis managed just 13 of the team's 30 rebounds. Jessica Jackson had five rebounds, but fouled out of the game and was scoreless for a second straight game.
Best Night From Behind the Lines on the Court Saturday
Memphis bounced back from its worst shooting performance from the field Thursday against Marshall (26.2 percent) with its best night from the free-throw line and from beyond the arc against East Carolina. Memphis was 81.0 percent from the free-throw line and 57.1 percent from beyond the three-point line. The eight threes the team hit tied a team-best from the Arkansas game, although Memphis attempted just 14 threes Saturday against ECU and attempted 25 from beyond the arc at Arkansas.
Turning Up the Pressure
In the first eight games of the year (halfway through the current schedule), Memphis managed double-digit steals as a team just two times; one was a three-point loss to Southeastern Louisiana and the other was in a win over Tennessee State. In the last eight games, the Lady Tigers have robbed double-digit passes in six games. The East Carolina game did mark the first time this season Memphis has gone without a block in the game though.
Jennings Back In Slashing Mode
With the addition of three new post players for 2007-08, senior forward Aroha Jennings has struggled to fit her role on the team. But the senior, who started nine games to begin the season, has found her role as a slasher again with starts in each of the past two games. After having going seven straight games without getting to the double-digit point mark, Jennings has averaged 10.5 points per game since stepping back in to the starting line-up and scored 14 points in the win over ECU. Jennings, who had ranked 28th in the NCAA in free-throw percentage last season, had attempted more than five free throws in just one of the previous six games before starting against Marshall on Thursday. She has gone 11-for-12 in the last two games from the charity stripe.
Offense Strongest Its Been Under Savage
The Lady Tigers are averaging just under 70 points per game (68.2 ppg) so far in 2007-08. That is the highest ppg average a Lady Tiger team has had under fourth year head coach Blair Savage-Lansden and was one of the reasons for the change to the motion offense on Savage's hire. Memphis' defense has improved since the calendar flipped over to league play as well, with Memphis ranking fourth in C-USA in scoring defense, giving up 62.3 ppg.
