Nov. 20, 2008
Complete Game Notes in PDF Format 
Ole Miss will offer free video streaming of tonight's game here.
The University of Memphis women's basketball team (2-1) will play its fourth game in eight days with a non-conference trip down the road to Oxford, Miss., Friday at Ole Miss. This will be the 45th meeting between the two programs, but the first since 2005-06. Ole Miss won the last meeting 87-81 and has a two-game winning streak in the series, which they lead 31-13.
The road game at Oxford will wrap up what has been a busy start to the season for the Tigers as Memphis will be playing their fourth game in eight days after opening the season the previous Friday against Northern Arizona. The Tigers are 2-1 heading in to the Ole Miss contest, coming off a 67-60 victory over Louisiana Tech on Tuesday night.
A pair of Tigers posted double-doubles in the LaTech victory, the first time since the 2004-05 season opener (when Raven Rogers and Victoria Crawford each had a double-double against Mercer) that two Tigers have had a double-double in the same game. Savannah Ellis got her first career double-double, finishing with 11 points and 11 rebounds, while Ashley Thornton finished with 14 points and 10 rebounds for her third straight double-double of the season and the 11th of her career. With the double-double, Thornton becomes the first player since Tamika Whitmore to have three or more consecutive double-doubles. Whitmore, who just capped her 10th season in the WNBA, had four straight double-doubles from Jan. 8, 1999-Jan. 17, 1999.
The Tiger bench outscored the Lady Techster bench, 33-12, partly due to Ellis and partly due to Alex Winchell's career-high 14 points, including a 5-for-6 stint from the free-throw line down the stretch. Memphis also got a career-high six rebounds from junior point guard Tehani Goldsmith and four assists from freshman guard Ramses Lonlack.
Ole Miss used a decisive rebonding advantage to pick up a 74-48 road win at UL Lafayette on Wednesday night. Every Rebel who played both scored and rebounded, powering Ole Miss to 3-0 on the season.
About Ole Miss
In its second season under Renee Ladner, the Ole Miss Lady Rebels are looking to build off a 13-16 record from last season and are 3-0 heading into Friday night's contest. The Rebels roster features three Memphis natives and LaKendra Phillips is a former teammate of current Tigers Jessica Jackson and LaToya Bullard when all three played at the University of Florida during the fall semester of 2006-07.
Ole Miss defeated UL Lafayette, 74-48 Wednesday night on the road to improve to 3-9 on the season. Kayla Melson led Ole Miss with 13 points, while Alliesha Easley had 12 points on 5-for-11 shooting. All 12 Rebels who played both scored and rebounded in the win over the Ragin' Cajuns, helping Ole Miss to a 53-30 rebounding advantage in the game. So far this year, the Rebels are out-rebounding the opposition by an average of 15 rebounds a game (48.3-33.3).
Double-Up
Ashley Thornton became the first player since Tamika Whitmore to have three consecutive double-doubles with her 14 points and 10 rebounds Tuesday night. Whitmore had four double-doubles from Jan. 8-Jan. 17, 1999. With her third double-double of the young season, Thornton now has 11 career double-doubles heading into the Ole Miss game.
Career Double-Doubles
Regina Street (1981-1985) 65
Tamika Whitmore (1996-1999) 45
Keeta Matthews (1992-1996) 36
Kim Duppins (1978-1982) 27
Diane Gary (1990-1992) 17
Linda Street (1978-79) * 17
Wanda Simpson (1982-84) 14
Melissa Abraham (1999-2002) 13
LaTonya Johnson (1994-98) 13
Debra Grandberry (1982-83) 12
Ashley Thornton (2005-present) 11
Glynetha Davis (1987-89) 11
Phillis Vaughn (1985-87) 11
Monica Glass (1986-87) 10
Double-Up, Part II
Also in the Louisiana Tech game, sophomore center
Savannah Ellis got her first career double-double, finishing with 11 points and 11 rebounds. That marked the first time since the season opener in 2004-05 that Memphis has had two players get a double-double in the same game.
Victoria Crawford and
Raven Rogers were the last Tiger duo to have double-doubles in the same game in the season-opening win over Mercer.
Winchell Has Career Night
Sophomore point guard Alex Winchell also had a career night against Louisiana Tech, finishing with 14 points, surpassing her 12 point total against Belmont last season. Winchell was 5-for-6 from the free-throw line down the stretch, and was 4-for-5 from the field. The Atlanta native scored 10 of her 14 points in the second half, including all five free-throws.
Bench Bounces Back
After scoring just eight points in the loss at Belmont, the Tiger bench answered back with a 33-point effort in the win over Louisiana Tech. Part of that was the scoring output from Ellis and Winchell, but eight of the 10 Tigers who played scored Tuesday night, including five points in seven minutes of play from Shekeira Copeland and six tough points from freshman Ramses Lonlack, who actually scored one bucket just before falling flat on her back on the floor from the contact on the drive.
Better Rebounding Effort
The rematch with Louisiana Tech was actually a rematch of the championship game of the Tigers' Thanksgiving Tournament last season. But unlike last year, Memphis had a better showing on the boards in this effort, out-rebounding LaTech, 48-45, after getting out-rebounded 47-30 last season.
2-0 at Home
The win over LaTech pushed Memphis to 2-1 on the season and to 2-0 in the Elma Roane Fieldhouse. The last time Memphis was 2-0 at home to start the season was 2004-05 when the Tigers defeated Mercer in their season opener, then downed Lipscomb. That Memphis team opened the season 4-0, all home games before falling at No. 14 Vanderbilt.
Some Early Season Home-Cookin'
Memphis is playing seven of its first nine regular games in the Bluff City to start the 2008-09 season, but will alternate home and away games through their first four games. After the Ole Miss game Friday night, the Tigers will have played four games in eight days to start the 2008-09 campaign.
Leonard Rolling Toward 50th Career Double-Digit Scoring Night
Senior guard Paris Leonard has battled some shooting woes in the last two games, going 4-for-9 against Louisiana Tech and 3-for-16 at Belmont, but she hit a big three down the stretch in the LaTech game to swing the momentum back the Tigers' way and finished with 11 points for her 47th career game with double-digit points.
Leonard is also eight steals shy of her 150th career steal and is currently the only Tiger with double-digit steals on the season, with 11 through the first three games.
Thornton Looking For 600th Point and 500th Rebound
Senior forward Ashley Thornton heads into Friday's game looking for her 600th career point and 500th rebounds. She currently has 597 points and 490 rebounds. Thornton currently ranks 18th on the Memphis all-time rebounding list, needing just three more to pass Wanda Simpson (1982-84) and six more to tie Phillis Vaughn (1985-87). Once she passes the 500 rebound mark, she will be one of just 16 Tigers in school history to have 500 or more rebounds in her career, which will actually be a three-year career as Thornton played at Birmingham Southern College as a freshman before transferring to Memphis when BSC moved to NCAA Division III.
When she passes the 600-career point mark, she will be one of just 42 players in Memphis history to score 600 or more points. She is currently tied for 43rd overall with 597 points. She needs 10 points to pass former teammate Aroha Jennings' mark of 5607 points, which would inch her toward the schools' top 40 in scoring.
New Faces on the Sidelines
For just the fourth time since the women's basketball program was reinstated in 1972-73, the Tigers have a new face on the sideline. Melissa McFerrin was hired on April 18, 2008. McFerrin, who was the 2008 Patriot League Coach of the Year, brings a 50-70 overall record with her to the Tiger program.
She is the program's fourth head coach in the modern era (her complete bio is on page 4 of the notes). She hired an entirely new staff to join her on the sidelines. Danielle O'Banion joins the program after playing at Boston College and coaching a Final Four Minnesota squad. Tempie Brown, a former Big 10 honorable mention player at Michigan, joined the team after spending the past four seasons at Northwestern University in Chicago, while Michael Wholey was McFerrin's first hire at Memphis. Wholey was an assistant coach under McFerrin at American University last season. Tony Martin rounds out the new staff as the Director of Basketball Operations, after spending the past seven seasons working the AAA Memphis Redbirds team in operations.
Lonlack Scores First Career Double-Digit Game
In just her second career start with the Tigers, freshman guard Ramses Lonlack booked her first career double-digit scoring game at Belmont, finishing with 11 points on 3-for-6 shooting. She also added seven rebounds, including four offensive, and three steals while playing a team-high 36 minutes.
Ellis Helping in Team Rebound Advantage
Memphis out-rebounded Belmont, 49-33, for the game, as nine of the 10 players who played grabbed a rebound. Ellis came off the bench to finish the night with seven rebounds, two steals and a blocked shot and one point in 13 minutes of play. She grabbed five of her rebounds in six minutes of play in the second half.
Conference USA Unsure What's to Come
With three returning starters and eight letterwinners, but with an entirely new coaching staff, the remainder of the league coaches are not quite sure what they are in for and as such, have picked Memphis to finish 11th in the league in the pre-season coaches' poll.
Memphis was picked to finish 12th last season in the pre-season poll, and ended up finishing tied for sixth.
Leonard Looking for a Grand
Senior guard Paris Leonard crossed the 900 point mark with her 17-point effort against Northern Arizona, moving to 901 points for her four-year Memphis career. The lone senior to suit up for Memphis her entire collegiate career, Leonard needs just 76 points to become the 19th player in Memphis history to score 1,000 or more points in her career. Leonard already ranks in the career top 10 in three-point field goals attempted (338) and made (110). She is just 37 steals shy of breaking in to the career top 10 in that category as well.
Debate This!
Memphis' first two road games follow the same trail as the first two presidential debates of 2008. Memphis will play at Ole Miss (host of the first debate) on Nov. 21st, after having played its season road opener at Belmont (host of the second debate and the first-ever presidential debate in the state of Tennessee), Nov. 16th. The game at Belmont will be played in the exact same building as the second presidential debate.
Jackson Posts Single Season Top 10 Performance in Just Half a Season
Senior center Jessica Jackson capped her first half of a season in a Memphis uniform with 32 blocked shots, the 10th-best single season performance in school history. What made that feat even more impressive is the Memphis native had to sit out the first semester games due to NCAA transfer rules and was only able to play in 23 games.
Goldsmith and Lonlack Make First Career Starts
Junior college transfer Tehani Goldsmith and freshman Ramses Lonlack made their first career starts in the win over Northern Arizona. Goldsmith was a junior college All-American at Yavapai College in Arizona, while Lonlack came to Memphis from her native Cameroon via stop at prep school in Massachusetts. Goldsmith finished with 10 points and four assists in 24 minutes, while Lonlack had four points with six assists and a steal in 26 minutes of play. Freshman Laquawanda Sippio also saw her first-ever action in a Tiger uniform, finishing with one point and one rebound in eight minutes of play.
Total Team Effort
In the win over Northern Arizona, all 10 Memphis players scored and all 10 tracked down at least one rebound. The last time every Memphis player scored in a game was Feb. 24th of 2007 against Rice and the last time every Memphis player had a rebound was Mar. 2, 2006 against Marshall.
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.
Memphis Gets a Tiger From Overseas
Aroha Jennings (2006-2008) was just the program's second native of New Zealand and capped her career among the top 40 in scoring, despite being here just two years. The international trend continues for Memphis as the team added its fifth-ever international player with the signing of freshman guard Ramses Lonlack. Lonlack had come to the U.S. from her native Cameroon and played 2 1/2 years of prep basketball before signing with the Tigers over the summer.
She is just the second player from the African continent for Memphis, following Nigeria's Charity Egenti (2002-2004). Lonlack played her prep ball in Massachusetts at Stoneleigh-Burnham School. There, she scored over 1,000 points in just 2 1/2 years, although she may draw Tiger fans' attention early for her defensive intensity.
Working on Their Strokes
The returning members of the women's basketball team will have some work to do at the free-throw line coming in to 2008-09. Of the eight returners, only two shot over 70 percent from the line last season -- Jessica Jackson (71.9) and Shae Seagraves (83.3). The Tigers' graduated Aroha Jennings, who is the second-leading free-throw percentage shooter in Memphis history, and Jessica Hall, both over 80 percent shooters from the stripe last year.
Tigers on the Block
Memphis finished fifth in the league last year in blocks per game with 3.37 stuffs a night. A lot of that credit is due to Jessica Jackson (see note above) and also to sophomore Savannah Ellis. As a freshman, Ellis posted 18 blocked shots, which is the fourth-best single season mark of any Tiger freshman. Regina Street holds the freshman single season record with an incredible 68 blocked shots in her freshman season in 1981-82.
Working Her Way to the Line
Ashley Thornton earned herself a lot of trips to the free-throw line last season, partly due to her work on the glass underneath. Her 86 made free-throws was the 8th-best single season mark in the junior record book, and her 129 attempts was the 8th-best single season total.
She capped the season with 87 offensive rebounds, the fifth-best single season total of any Tiger juniors, and her 129 defensive rebounds was sixth. In all, she had 215 total rebounds, the ninth-best mark of any player in her junior season with the Tigers.
