Nov. 29, 2008

Complete Game Notes in PDF Format

The University of Memphis women's basketball team (4-2) advanced to the championship game of the 24th Annual Piggly Wiggly Classic for the 19th time in school history with a win over Wichita State, 61-54, Friday night. The Tigers will face Stephen F. Austin on Saturday night in the championship game. The Ladyjacks downed Jacksonville State 61-51 in the second game Friday night to advance to the championship game.

With the win Friday night, Memphis improved to 37-6 in its home Thanksgiving tournament, and will be attempting to win an 18th tournament title. This will be SFA's first-ever appearance in the championship game of the tournament, but will be the fifth meeting overall between the two programs. Memphis had a three-game winning streak in the series match-up before SFA won the last meeting, 82-73 at home. SFA is 0-2 all-time against the Tigers in the Elma Roane Fieldhouse.

Memphis was led in scoring by sophomore point guard Alex Winchell in Friday night's game. Winchell finished with a career-high 16 points on 4-for-9 shooting, connecting on all four field goals from three-point range and going 4-for-4 from the free-throw line. Senior forward Ashley Thornton added her fourth double-double in six games, finishing with 10 points and 12 rebounds, while Savannah Ellis added a career-high 14 rebounds against her hometown team of Wichita State.

SFA survived a turnover-plagued contest with Jacksonville State in which both teams combined for 48 turnovers. SFA committed 27 turnovers, but used a big rebounding edge on the boards, 53-38, to survive a chippy Jacksonville State squad. Eleven different players scored for SFA and 11 different players had a rebound in the victory. Natashia Green led the team off the bench with 12 points and seven rebounds, while Tammara Marion added 10 points in 19 minutes of play. The Ladyjacks used a variety of full court presses to force Jacksonville State in to 21 turnovers and shot 41.4 percent from the field in the second 20 minutes for the win.

Wichita State will now face Jacksonville State in the third-place game. That game will be played at 5 p.m. in the Elma Roane Fieldhouse. The championship game will tip 30 minutes following the completion of the WSU/JSU contest.

About Stephen F. Austin
SFA is 4-1 on the season, with their one loss being a 77-42 decision at No. 7 Baylor last Friday. Head Coach Lee Ann Riley got her 250th career victory against a C-USA school when he team defeated a visiting Tulsa squad, 59-55, on Monday night.

The Ladyjacks won a turnover-plagued meeting with Jacksonville State in the first round. The two teams combined for 48 turnovers, with SFA committing 27 turnovers. But the Ladyjacks' depth helped in the scoring and rebounding columns, as SFA rode a 53-38 rebounding advantage to the victory.

SFA is coming off an uncharacteristic season last year, when they finished with a 12-17 overall record. In the previous seven seasons under Riley, the Ladyjacks made two NCAA apperances, one WNIT appearance and won two Southland Conference regular season and tournament titles. In 2007-08, one of the team's 12 wins pushed the program over 800 win, making the Ladyjacks just the sixth program in women's basketball history to record 800 victories.

Like Louisiana Tech, an earlier Memphis opponent, the Stephen F. Austin program is steeped in coaching history, as Sue Gunter (LSU) and Gary Blair (Texas A&M) both headed the SFA program at one time -- and C-USA fans will also recognize a couple of other names that had served as SFA head coaches, as Joe Curl (Houston) and Royce Chadwick (Marshall) also have coaching roots that run through the Ladyjacks program.

Leonard Nearing 1,000
Paris Leonard is just 19 points shy of her 1,000th career point heading in to the championship game. She would be the 19th player in Memphis history to hit the grand scoring mark. The last Tiger to cross the 1,000 point mark was Devin Necaise (2003-2007). Necaise finished her career with 1,071 points, which currently ranks 16th overall. Necaise and Leonard were teammates for two seasons.

Leonard also ranks 6th in school history in three-point field goals made (115) and attempted (358) and is approaching the career top 10 in steals with 152. She needs 27 more steals to break in to the career top 10 in that category as well.

Leonard Rolling Toward 50th Career Double-Digit Scoring Night
Leonard's 24-point night against Ohio was her 49th career double-digit scoring outing. The Memphis native and Wooddale HS graduate has now played in 87 career games with 38 career starts heading in to Friday's game. The senior is also shooting 40.5 percent from the floor, which is a career-best single season field goal percentage for her.

Memphis in the Piggly Wiggly Classic
Memphis is 37-6 all-time in the Piggly Wiggly Classic. Memphis fell in the championship game last year to Louisiana Tech, 82-77. The Tigers have won the tournament title 17 times and have appeared in the championship game 18 times in the 24 years of the tournament.

Winchell Has Career Scoring Night Against Wichita State
Sophomore point guard Alex Winchell had a career-high 16 points in the win over Wichita State Friday night. All of Winchell's field goals came from three-point range, as she tied a career-high with four triples on the night. She also added a 4-for-4 effort from the free-throw line in the win.

Ellis Leads Rebounding Effort Against Hometown Team
Sophomore center Savannah Ellis made her second career start against a team based in her hometown of Wichita, Kan. The Wichita Heights graduate responded with a career-high 14 rebounds and could have had her second career double-double, but struggled with a 1-for-7 night from the field. But Ellis didn't allow her lack of offense to slow down her defense, as she added three blocked shots and two steals in 30 minutes of play.

Seagraves Makes First Career Start
Sophomore forward Shae Seagraves made her first career start in the win over Wichita State. She finished with four points and four rebounds in 21 minutes of play, and more importantly for the Tigers, looked for shots other than three-point field goals. Seagraves knocked down a jumper in a 9-3 Memphis run to open the game.

4-0 at Home
Memphis remains perfect at home with a 4-0 mark following Friday night's win. The last time Memphis started 4-0 at home was in 2004-05, when the Tigers won the Thanksgiving Classic, then went on the road and lost at No. 14 Vanderbilt. The last time Memphis started out 5-0 at home was 1998-99.

Thornton Racks Up Another Double-Double
Ashley Thornton scored 10 points and had 12 rebounds in the win over Wichita State, her fourth double-double of the season and the 12 of her career. She is now just under averaging a double-double, as she averages 11.8 points and 9.5 rebounds per game.

Winchell Nets 200th Point
Sophomore guard Alex Winchell comes in to Friday's game against Wichita State just 16 points shy of her 200th career point. She scored exactly that many and now has 200 points for her career. Forty of her 69 field goals have come from three-point range.

About Our Opponents: Here is a look at how our past and upcoming opponents have fared as of late: Northern Arizona (1-5): Fell to Bradley, 83-66, Friday; will face North Dakota, Saturday. Belmont (2-2): Were edged by Michigan, 64-60, at Southern Miss tournament; will face Alcorn State in the consolation game, Saturday. Louisiana Tech (1-2): Fell at Tennessee, 94-59; hosts Nicholls State, Wednesday. Ole Miss (5-0): Defeated Alcorn State, 63-40; hosts Nicholls, Saturday. Ohio (1-3): Fell 43-34 to South Carolina in Cancun; faces Fordham, Saturday. Wichita State (3-2): Fell to Memphis 61-54; plays Jacksonville St., Saturday. Stephen F. Austin (4-1): Downed JSU 61-51; plays at Memphis, Saturday. Arkansas (4-1): Suffered first loss, 69-56- to Oregon State at Junkanoo Jam; plays Pacific, Saturday. South Alabama (4-1): Suffered first loss of season at George Washington, 64-59; will face Liberty, Saturday. Mississippi State (4-0): Ran over UL Lafayette, 71-38; hosts Louisiana Tech, Wednesday. UT Arlington (3-2): Defeated Midwestern State, 90-49; plays at Morehead State, Sunday. Georgia Tech (4-1): Upended in-town foe Georgia State, 74-56; plays Texas Saturday. Winthrop (2-2): Fell at Clemson, 76-68; plays at No. 25 Xavier, Saturday. Tennessee Tech (1-3): Fell to Drake, 69-58; plays at Florida Atlantic Saturday UAB (1-4): Fell to Evansville, 62-47; plays McNeese State, Saturday. UCF (1-4): Fell to Wisconsin 65-61; plays Villanova, Saturday. Southern Miss (3-2): Defeated Alcorn State 79-47; plays Michigan, Saturday. Rice (2-1): Lost to No. 9 Baylor, 83-58; plays at UALR, Saturday. Houston (3-1): Won at Miami (Fla.), 70-64; plays at North Texas, Tuesday, Dec. 2nd. East Carolina (4-0): Blew past North Carolina Central, 98-39; plays North Carolina A&T Saturday. Marshall (3-1): Lost to UL Monroe, 69-67; hosts Texas-Arlington, Tuesday, Dec. 2nd. UTEP (2-3): Fell to Monmouth, 54-49; hosts Texas State, Saturday. Tulane (1-3): Fell at LSU, 63-47; plays at UL Monroe, Saturday. SMU (1-3): Got first win of season, 73-52, over Sam Houston State; faces Charlotte, Saturday. Tulsa (2-3): Lost to Marist, 73-53; plays at UMKC, Wednesday.