Feb. 8, 2006
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Against East Carolina
Memphis lost to ECU 81-68 in the first meeting between the two teams earlier this season and fell into a 3-3 tie in the overall series between the two teams. But if Memphis is to break out of that tie, it will have to do it in Greenville, N.C., where Memphis is 0-2. Last year, the Lady Tigers lost at ECU, 60-47. ECU, a very athletic team, will be a handful for the Lady Tigers as the Lady Pirates played 14 players in their loss at Rice on Monday night.
Against Marshall
Marshall won the first meeting of the year, which was also Memphis' first C-USA game of the year. The Thundering Herd leads the overall series 1-0 and this will be the Lady Tigers' first-ever trip to a school in the state of West Virginia. Marshall snapped a five-game losing streak, which included a non-conference game against in-state foe West Virginia, Monday night at Houston. The Marshall/Memphis contest will be televised on CSTV, Sunday, beginning at 4:30 p.m. (ET). It will be Memphis' second appearance on CSTV and Marshall's lone appearance as part of the C-USA package.
Butler Posts Second Double-Double of Season
Senior point guard Tamika Butler posted her second double-double of the season, Monday night, finishing with 15 points and 10 assists. The 10 assists moves her within one of Connie Hibbler (1984-88) and sixth-place all-time in career assists. Her 350 assists is also just 10 shy of Kathy Barnett (1976-78). Butler is trying to become the first Lady Tiger in 10 years to make it into the career top five in assists. Yolanda Reed (1997-2000) was the last Lady Tiger to move into the top of the career assist field, where she ranks fourth with 398 helpers.
Success From Beyond The Arc
Devin Necaise now leads the team with 39 three-point field goals made, which is the 8th-best single season total in the Memphis record book. Freshman Paris Leonard has 38 treys (9th best in history) and senior Tamika Butler has 30 on the season. That trio has sunk 107 of Memphis' 109 threes. Memphis needs to hit just nine more threes to have the fifth-best total of threes in school history.
Total Team Effort Snaps 12-Game Skid
It took all eight players, but the Lady Tigers snapped a 12-game losing streak that had tied a school record for most consecutive losses. Memphis is now hoping to do what that 1989-90 team did, which was win four of their next five games.
Bradley's Streak Now 10 Straight
Jamie Bradley had two blocks in the UTEP win and now has 28 for the season. She has posted at least a block in each of the last 10 straight games and now has 41 blocks in her two-year Lady Tiger career.
Gooch Becoming a Clutch Scorer
Megan Gooch is developing into a clutch scorer for Memphis. She had just four points in the UTEP game, but her first bucket of the game at the 7:19 mark gave Memphis back a lead and her second jumper was an answer to a quick UTEP basket that had pulled the Miners within two and put the game out of reach for UTEP.
Howard Continues Her Drive
Junior Ashley Howard has been highly-effective scoring off the drive in the last three games. Howard finished with six points against UTEP, but all six came as she slashed through the paint. One of her buckets was off a feed from Butler off a fast break.
Leonard Snaps Mini Slump
Freshman Paris Leonard snapped a mini shooting slump where she shot 10-for-41 from the field and was without a three-point field goal over the previous three games against UTEP. Leonard was 5-for-10 from the field, hitting four of her five field goals from beyond the arc. She added 18 points, five rebounds, an assist and a steal in 22 minutes off the bench.
Leonard is now just behind Necaise on the single season three-point shooting list with 38 threes. That total is the ninth-best mark in single season school history.
Necaise Hits 100th Free-Throw; One Shy of 100th Trey
Junior guard Devin Necaise hit her 100th career free-throw in the waning minutes of the UTEP win and with her four threes in that game, she moved up to 99 career three-point field goals. If Necaise can get one more trey this weekend, she will become just the fifth Lady Tiger in school history to hit 100 or more three-point field goals.
Montgomery Seeing More Minutes
Freshman Sherika Montgomery has now played double digit minutes in three straight games and is developing a reputation as being the Lady Tiger to insert into the line-up if Memphis needs a rebound or some post defense. The freshman has gone 6-for-6 from the free-throw line over the last three games.
