Aug. 17, 2011

ROME, Italy - - The Memphis women's basketball came back from a 29-20 halftime deficit and then used a Jasmine Lee bucket and a Brittany Carter triple with 13 seconds left to upend the host Rome All-Star squad in game one of the four-game tour in Italy Wednesday.

Memphis opened the game on a 6-0 run before the veteran All-Star squad took the lead at 10-9 off a three-point field goal. The Rome All-Stars would get after Memphis in transition to build the lead to 17-11 at the end of the first quarter and 29-20 at the half.

The Tiger defense stepped it up in the third quarter, forcing multiple back-to-back trips with turnovers that Memphis turned in to points on the other end. Nicole Dickson started the third quarter shooting three-for-three, eventually finishing with 14 points.

Heading in to the final minutes of the game, the Tigers started trading blows with the All-Stars, who began relying on a tandem of veteran players who isolated the defenders and kept exchanging the lead. But the ball bounced to Jasmine Lee on the right block, who stuck the ball back in for the 66-66 tie with 37.1 seconds to play. The All-Stars suffered a rare miss of a three-point field goal that was rebounded by the Tigers. The ball was pushed to Brittany Carter, who had ended the third quarter with a three-point field goal from the opposite corner. With 13 seconds left on the clock, Carter drained the triple from the other corner, forcing a Rome timeout. Under FIBA rules, the ball advanced to half court with less than a full second left on the clock by the time the timeout was given. The All-Stars got a behind the back, over the shoulder shot off that actually bounced off the backboard just to the right of the rim to allow the Tigers to escape an overtime session and pick up the win.

Carter finished with 18 points and eight rebounds, while Jasmine Lee added a double-double of 11 points and 10 rebounds, including seven offensive. Nicole Dickson overcame a tough-shooting second quarter to knock down 12 of her 14 points in the second half of the game in the win.

Ramses Lonlack led the defense with three steals and Bilqis Abdul-Qaadir led the team with seven assists.

Memphis will remain in Rome for one more day before busing to Florence on Friday. The Tigers' next game will be Saturday, against the Saarlouise Royals at Sports Complex Palavinci.

Photo Gallery from the Tigers' second day, and first game, in Rome --

Tigers in Italy -- Rome Day 2