Dec. 21, 2011
Memphis at Missouri Notes
Tigers vs. Missouri
This is the 12th meeting between Memphis and Missouri. Missouri leads the overall series, 6-5, after downing Memphis 76-40 in both team's season-openers last year. The 40 points for Memphis was tied for the seventh-lowing scoring output for a Memphis team in school history and was the only time last year was held under 50 points.
The last time Memphis played in Missouri, it was the Memphis Tigers who prevailed with the win, giving head coach Melissa McFerrin a win, 75-74, in her first-ever return to her alma mater.
Memphis is hoping to get McFerrin another win against her alma mater, and this time would call it a birthday present for the Tiger head coach, who celebrated her birthday on Tuesday.
Third Straight C-USA Weekly Honor
Brittany Carter made it three straight C-USA Player of the Week honors for the Tigers by sharing the C-USA award this week with Southern Miss' Tanecka Carey. This is Carter's second weekly award, and follows Jasmine Lee's honor last week. Carter averaged 23.5 points and 5.5 rebounds while shooting 50.0 percent from the field in a pair of games last weekend at the St. John's tournament, helping Memphis defeat Louisiana Tech, 86-67, then fall just short in the championship game, 64-60, on the road. This is Carter's third career weekly honor.
Non-Conference Schedule Winding Down
The Tigers have just two non-conference games remaning before a tough start to Conference USA play. The Tigers play at Missouri (Big 12), Thursday, then will break for the holidays. The team will return to host Seton Hall (Big East) on Dec. 30th, then, in the opening week of league play, will play Tulane (8-2, with a win over then-nationally-ranked LSU), on Jan. 5, then will play at still-undefeated UTEP (10-0), on Jan. 8th in El Paso. Memphis will play three of its first five C-USA games on the road this year.
Lonlack Looking for 1,000 Points, 500 Rebounds, 250 Steals
Senior guard Ramses Lonlack is trying to become just the sixth player in Memphis women's basketball history to have over 1,000 career points, 500 rebounds and 250 steals. Lonlack already has the steals and rebounds marks passed (530 rebounds, 253 steals heading in to the Louisiana Tech game) and is now just 19 points shy of her 1,000th career point. Only five other players in Memphis' 39-year-history have had 1,000 points, 500 rebounds and 250 steals:
Betty Booker (1976-80): 2,835 points, 628 rebounds, 360 steals
Keeta Matthews (1992-96): 2,133 points, 926 rebounds, 282 steals
Linda McKinnie (1977-82): 2,000 points, 831 rebounds, 337 steals
Kim Duppins (1978-82): 1,835 points, 1,163 rebounds, 281 steals
Kitty Allen (1993-97): 1,823 points, 559 rebounds, 289 steals
Quick Hits:
-After scoring just one point in the season-opener, Nicole Dickson has scored double-digit points in 10 straight games.
- In games where Ramses Lonlack shoots under 38 percent from the field, the Tigers are 0-2.
- Ann Jones was held without a field goal attempt for the first time in her young career in the loss at St. John's.
- With not much size on the roster, the Tigers need their guards to rebound. Senior Danay Collier was held without a rebound for the first time this season in the loss at St. John's.
- Nicole Dickson was held to no defensive rebounds in the loss at St. John's. The last time the junior did not grab at least one defensive board in a game was in the C-USA Quarterfinal win over Rice last season.
- The game vs. St. Johns was the first time since the loss at Illinois that Brittany Carter shot less than 50 percent from the field. After shooting 26.2 percent from the field in the first three games, Carter shot 58.8 percent from the field during Memphis' seven-game win streak.
Carter Looking to Break in to Top 15 in Scoring
Senior guard Brittany Carter will leave with her name all over the school record book, but the Covington, Georgia, native's most impressive mark may be breaking in to the career top 10 at Memphis despite playing just three seasons for the Tigers. Carter is already 16th in career scoring with 1,259 points (40 points shy of Victoria Crawford's mark of 1,299 for 15th). She needs just 255 more points this season to break in to the career top 10. At her current clip of a little over 18.5 points per game, she would break in to the career top 10 in 13 more games (early February). Carter (2009-present) and Lynn Enzweiler (1973-75) are the only players in the top 20 in career scoring at Memphis who have played less than four seasons in the blue and gray.
Abdul-Qaadir Eying School Mark in Consecutive Free-Throws
This hopefully does not jinx her, but sophomore point guard Bilqis Abdul-Qaadir is already eying a spot in the record book. Heading in to the game at Missouri, Abdul-Qaadir has hit 22 straight attempts from the free-throw line. Her last miss from the stripe was the front end of a one-and-one with 2:24 remaining in the game in the win over Belmont in the Tigers' second game of the season. After having no free-throw tries at Illinois or against Arkansas-Pine Bluff, the sophomore has hit everything since, improving to 24-for-25 on the season from the stripe.
The school record for consecutive free-throws made is 24, held by Devin Necaise. Necaise hit 24 straight free-throws before a miss at UAB. She went on that same season to set a school record for free-throw percentage (90.9), that she broke a season later (96.6). For this season, Abdul-Qaadir is shooting 96.0 percent from the line.
Double-Double Dickson Strikes Again
Nicole Dickson had her school-record seven game streak of double-doubles snapped in the win at UALR, but the junior forward keeps adding to her career double-double mark. She finished the Louisiana Tech game with 13 points and 11 rebounds. Dickson, who now has eight double-doubles on the season, has nine double-doubles for her career. Her only other career double-double came during her freshman season. With the graduation of three post players from last year's Memphis roster, a bulk of the rebounding duties have fallen to Dickson, and she has not disappointed, leading Memphis with 9.1 rebounds a night. Her eight double-doubles this season leads Conference USA and ranks her second in the nation, behind Sacramento State's Kylie Kuhns (10). Her 9.1 rebounds ranks the 6-0 forward 68th in the country.
Abdul-Qaadir in a Helping Mood
Sophomore point guard Bilqis Abdul-Qaadir was the one new starter for Memphis this season, stepping on the court with seniors Brittany Carter, Jasmine Lee and Ramses Lonlack and junior Nicole Dickson. That supporting cast has helped Abdul-Qaadir quickly assimilate to the Tigers' offense. Already this season, she had three more assists in the first nine games than she had in 34 games last year. And the Springfield, Mass., native is also keeping the mistakes down, which has her currently ranked 25th in the NCAA in assist-to-turnover ratio (2.33). In the six-game Memphis winning streak, she has handed out 34 assists against just nine turnovers (3.78 ratio). She has not had a single game this season where she had more turnovers than assists and was even just twice, in the season-opener against Saint Louis (2 assists, 2 turns), a game in which she hit the game-winning three with just five seconds left on the clock in a 63-60 win over Saint Louis, and in the win over Louisiana Tech.
Dickson and Carter Working Over Career Threes
Junior forward Nicole Dickson already ranks in the Memphis top 10 in three-point field goals made (74) and attempted (224) Dickson, who ranks eighth in made threes, has some work to do in order to move any higher on that list. The next slot up is Kelly Herron's mark of 131 triples.
Brittany Carter is also trying to move up on the career top 10 list in triples. Both Carter and Dickson are in their third seasons at Memphis. Carter has 61 threes, 10 shy of moving on to the top 10 list.
Fortieth Season
The is the 40th season that women's basketball has been a varsity sport at Memphis. It's been a bitter sweet celebration, as Elma Roane, the women's athletic director who returned women's sports to varsity status at the university, passed away in September at the age of 93. The Tigers entered the 2011-12 season just 20 wins away from the 700th win in program history. The program's current record heading in to the Louisiana Tech game is 690-505.
In school history, 18 Tigers' teams have won 20 or more games. In the last 10 years, Memphis has just three 20-win seasons, but two of them are the back-to-back seasons under McFerrin.
Four Straight vs. 2011 NCAA Tournament Teams
Memphis just finished playing four straight teams from the 2011 NCAA Tournament. The Tigers went 3-1 in that stretch winning one game at home (UT Martin), one on the road (UALR) and one on a neutral court (Louisiana Tech). The one loss in that stretch was by four points to 2011 second round participant St. John's on the road. Memphis' final two non-conference games are against teams from BCS conferences (Missouri out of the Big 12 and Seton Hall out of the Big East).
Back-to-Back 20-Point Outings
Senior Brittany Carter did something in the win over UT Martin that she hasn't done since her sophomore season. After a 23-point game against Tennessee State, she scored 27 points against UT Martin, her first back-to-back 20-point games since her sophomore season, when she accomplished the same feat two times -- once with back-to-back 20 plus point games vs. FIU (21) and South Alabama (20) and a back-to-back-to-back run against East Carolina (29), UMKC (22) and Wichita State (25). Carter has scored 20 or more points in three different games so far this season.
She scored 15 points in the win at UALR, then posted back-to-back 20-plus point games again this weekend at the St. John's tournament, meaning she has scored 20 or more points in four of the last five games.
Carter Named to Women's Naismith Trophy Early Season Watch List
Senior guard Brittany Carter was the lone Conference USA player to be named to the Women's Naismith Trophy Early Season Watch List. Carter, one of 51 players on the list, becomes the first Tiger player under the guidance of Melissa McFerrin to earn a spot on the watch list. A two-time All-Conference USA first team honoree, Carter is also one of 30 candidates for the Lowe's Senior CLASS Award. The senior was also named to the CollegeChalkTalk.com Worthy 20 preseason Wooden players list from George Rodecker.
Three Televised Tigers Games This Year
Memphis will appear on television three times during the regular season. After the Tigers open their home stand against a tough Tulane squad, Memphis will fly to El Paso, Texas, for a televised game at currently-unbeaten UTEP on Jan. 8th. On Jan. 22nd, Memphis will play a road game at UAB that will also be televised. Memphis' lone televised regular season home game will be a Feb. 5th match-up with UCF at FedExForum. That game will be the back end of a double-header with the Tigers' men's basketball team. All three games will appear on Fox Sports Network. Check www.GoTigersGo.com for additional information as those dates get closer.
