Tigers Women's Basketball Falls To No. 1 Connecticut Wednesday

Wednesday, January 13

Memphis, Tenn.

5 pm CT

University of Memphis

9-8, 3-3AAC

Connecticut

15-0, 5-0AAC

Connecticut

Memphis

Photo by: Brandon Dill

Tigers Women's Basketball Falls To No. 1 Connecticut Wednesday

Jan 13, 2016 | Women's Basketball

Box Score

Elmore nets career-high 12 points in the setback.

MEMPHIS, Tenn. – University of Memphis sophomore Brea Elmore scored a career-high 12 points, but it wasn't enough as the Tigers fell to No. 1 nationally-ranked Connecticut 86-46 before a crowd of 2,342 at the Elma Roane Fieldhouse Wednesday.

With the loss, Memphis dropped to 9-8 overall and 3-3 in the American Athletic Conference. The Huskies improved their perfect marks to 15-0 overall and 5-0 in the league.

Seniors Ariel Hearn and Mooriah Rowser each added 12 points. Asianna Fuqua-Bey and Loysha Morris pulled down five rebounds apiece. With her five boards, Fuqua-Bey moved into the No. 9 spot on the Tigers all-time rebounds chart with 717 boards. Morris' five boards were a season best. Hearn also dished out four assists.

The Huskies' Moriah Jefferson led all scorers with 21 points. Breanna Stewart and Katie Lou Samuelson each added 11 points, and Napheesa Collier scored 10 points. Stewart grabbed a game-high eight rebounds and blocked four shots.

Memphis faced a tall task Wednesday and hung with the Huskies early. The Tigers only trailed 11-6 at the first-period media timeout, but lost Hearn for the rest of the quarter with two fouls. From there, Connecticut went on a 20-2 run to take a 31-8 lead at the end of the opening period and put the game out of reach.

In the second quarter, Memphis opened with a 10-3 run to slice the Huskies' lead to 34-18. Included in that run was a Hearn three-pointer at the 8:08 mark. However, 14 seconds later, Hearn picked up her third foul and returned to the bench for the remainder of the second quarter. All total, Hearn played 6:41 of the 20-minute first half. The Huskies then closed the period on a 12-0 spurt to take a 46-18 halftime advantage.

After the break, the closest Memphis got was within 27 points at 53-26 on a Rowser three-pointer with 6:06 left in the third period.

Memphis shot 35.8 percent from the floor and 44.4 percent from the arc. Connecticut hit 45.8 percent from the field and 33.3 percent from the arc. The Huskies out-rebounded the Tigers 43-32 and forced 26 Memphis miscues.

The Tigers return to action Saturday, Jan. 16 when they travel to Dallas, Texas, to face SMU. Game time is 2 p.m. (CT) from Moody Coliseum.