Feb. 22, 2008
Complete Game Notes in PDF Format 
The University of Memphis women's basketball team (8-18, 5-8 C-USA) will close out its 2007-08 regular season road schedule at East Carolina (13-13, 7-6 C-USA), Saturday afternoon in Greenville.
Memphis has alternated wins and losses over the past six games, going 3-3, including a 1-3 mark on the road. The Lady Tigers scored the most points in a first half at Marshall to lead 48-35 at the half. But a cold start to the second half, in which Memphis shot 1-for-12 from the field in the first 11 minutes of the second stanza, put Memphis in comeback mode. The Lady Tigers managed to cut the once-13 point deficit to single digits following a pair of Alex Winchell three-point field goals, but could pull no closer than seven down with 49 seconds to play following a Paris Leonard layup.
East Carolina has surged following an 0-4 start to league play, reeling off wins in seven of their next nine games, including an 85-82 win over UAB Thursday night. The Pirates are 5-2 at home in C-USA play so far this year, heading in to their final home game of the season. Junior LaCoya Terry had a huge night against UAB, scoring 35 points on 13-of-24 shooting, adding seven rebounds in 39 minutes of play. Fellow junior Gabriela Husarova added 13 points and five rebounds, while junior Jasmine Young added 10 points, 13 assists and five rebounds for a double-double. The Pirates out-rebounded ECU 39-30, including 16 offensive boards, and moved the ball around for 18 assists on 30 buckets for the night.
Terry leads ECU with 15.5 points a night and is tied for third on the team with 19 three-point field goals made. Young also averages double-digits with 14.5 ppg, while four other teammates average over six points a night, including senior Nicole Days, who also adds 7.4 rebounds a night. It will be a big day for Days, who is the lone senior on the Pirate squad. Against UAB, Days had three steals, one block, seven points and five rebounds while holding C-USA leading scorer Diamond Rogers to just 11 points, six under her average.
In the previous meeting, Memphis connected on eight three-point field goals and forced 20 Pirate turnovers in a 69-50 victory. Jessica Hall led Memphis with 21 points, while Latoya Bullard and Aroha Jennings each added 14 points. Paris Leonard rounded out the double-digit scorers with 11 points.
Memphis vs. East Carolina
This is the 11th meeting between Memphis and ECU and the Pirates lead the overall series 6-4. Memphis snapped a four-game losing streak to ECU with the win in the Elma Roane Fieldhouse earlier this season, but has never won a game in Greenville, sporting an 0-4 record here dating back to ECU's addition to Conference USA in 2001-02.
Hall Moves In To Single Season Top 10
Redshirt junior Jessica Hall moved in to the single season top 10 in three-point field goals made with her three triples at Marshall. With 45 threes made so far this year, Hall is currently tied for ninth overall with current Assistant Director of Basketball Operations LaTonya Johnson's 1996-97 season. Two more triples will push Hall in to a three-way tie with Johnson's 1994-95 season and Kelly Herron's 1998-99 season.
For her 55-game old Lady Tiger career, Hall has 58 career triples, ranking her ninth on the list of career threes for Memphis.
She is also approaching the 500 career point mark, with 449 points heading in to the East Carolina game. With 51 more points, she would become the fourth player on the Lady Tiger roster with over 500 career points.
Leonard Pushing 900
Junior guard Paris Leonard had her best first half of her Lady Tiger career at Marshall, scoring 21 points in 20 minutes of play. Although Marshall slowed her down in the second half, she now has 845 career points, needing 55 more to pass the 900-point plateau.
She also is pushing the 100-career three-point field goal mark, with 93 threes heading in to Saturday's ECU game. She currently ranks sixth in Memphis history with her 93 threes and 296 three-point field goal attempts.
Jennings Close to 300th Career Rebound
Senior Aroha Jennings is approaching the end of her college basketball career, and needs just 20 more rebounds to pass the 300-rebound mark for her two-year-old Memphis career. With 280 rebounds heading in to the East Carolina match over 57 games, Jennings is averaging 4.9 rpg for her career. Next week's games against Southern Miss and UCF will be her final games in the Elma Roane Fieldhouse.
Ellis Has Best Career Night From the Field
Savannah Ellis might be a lock for the team's Most Improved Player award. The freshman was 5-for-5 from the field, scoring a career-high 14 points in the loss to Marshall. The 14 points was her first career double-digit scoring night. She also tied a career-best with eight rebounds. In the last three games, she has averaged 6.0 rpg and 7.0 ppg off the bench.
Winchell Moves to Eighth in Freshman Threes
Freshman guard Alex Winchell moved in to a tie for eighth place with three triples at Marshall. With 25 three-point field goals made on the season, Winchell tied Jazmyn Green's mark from last season. She needs three more threes to move to seventh in the freshman record book, where Kim Gilchrist (1987-88) finished her freshman season. The all-time three-point record for a freshman is 47 threes, held by current Assistant Director of Basketball Operations, LaTonya Johnson.
Still Looking for Sixth League Win
If Memphis can find another win before the end of the regular season, they will have established the best league win total dating back to 2003-04, when Memphis won nine league games, a mark the team could have tied had they won at Marshall and then won out the remaining home weekend. The Lady Tigers' current five victories ties the 2004-05 team's mark for league wins. The loss at Marshall also ruined a chance to pass the conference road win total mark, as the 2003-04 team won four C-USA road games. The ECU game will be the last chance for Memphis to improve its road win total. The Lady Tigers are currently 2-5 away from home in league play.
Bullard Eight Assists From 100
Despite being able to play only the second semester due to NCAA transfer rules, sophomore point guard Latoya Bullard is just eight assists shy of the 100-assist mark this season. She finished with nine assists and three steals at Marshall, but was trapped at the half court line, forcing seven turnovers. She added six rebounds, but was 0-for-7 from the field, finishing with just one point from the free-throw line.
Memphis last had a player with more than 100 assists in a season in 2005-06, when Tamika Butler capped her senior season with 115 assists.
As Memphis sees league teams for a second time, Lady Tiger opponents have been better prepared for Bullard. East Carolina is not likely to be any different as Bullard scored 14 points on them in the first meeting of the year. Since opening league play with double-digit points in five of the first six games, she has been held to single digit scoring in six of the next seven games.
Jennings 20 Points From 600
With a three-point night at Marshall, Aroha Jennings' single-digit scoring streak has extended to seven games. That is slowing her down in her quest to pass the 600-point mark, as she enters the ECU game with 580 points.
