Tigers Women's Basketball To Play At UCF Wednesday

Wednesday, February 10

Orlando, Fla.

6 pm CT

University of Memphis

UCF

Tickets

Photo by: Brandon Dill

Feb 09, 2016 | Women's Basketball

Memphis won this season's earlier meeting 75-59.

MEMPHIS, Tenn. – College basketball's postseason – or March Madness – is just under a month away, but don't tell that to University of Memphis head coach Melissa McFerrin as she takes her squad to Orlando, Fla., for a Wednesday match-up with American Athletic Conference rival UCF.

Game time is 6 p.m. (CT) from CFE Arena on the UCF campus.

McFerrin sees the start of postseason beginning with Wednesday's game against the Knights.

"It's important that we approach this like a postseason game," said McFerrin. "We've got a lot to play for in this game. We've got a lot to gain or a lot to lose.

"This is one of those games that you don't want to drop because a loss can hurt our postseason chances. We've talked with our players about that, and they are aware of what's at stake."

f Memphis hopes for its first postseason bid since 2013, the Tigers are going to have to do it on the road. Memphis plays four of its final six regular-season conference games away from the Elma Roane Fieldhouse, where it has a 10-4 record in 2015-16. The Tigers are 3-6 on the road this season.

The Tigers are one of only two teams in the American Athletic Conference to play four of its final league contests on the road, as SMU is the other that will have to do so as well. Memphis tips off this final stretch with two road games this week with a Wednesday encounter at UCF and a Saturday showdown at East Carolina.

But, as all coaches warn their teams: focus only on the next opponent. For Memphis, that is UCF Wednesday.

"UCF is a team that, if they hit a couple of shots early and gain some confidence and momentum, can be tough at their place," McFerrin said. "They are always dangerous on their homecourt."

Radio: 91.7 FM (WUMR)
Internet Video: ucfknights/collegesportslive
Live Stats: ucfknights.com/gametracker
LiveTweet: @MemphisWBKB, #MEMWBKB, #GoTigersGo

Tigers Tidbits/Five Notes To Know
• Memphis holds a narrow 13-10 lead in the series and has won the last five meetings. The Tigers won this season's earlier encounter, a 75-59 victory Jan. 27. Memphis swept last season's match-ups, 70-66 in Orlando and 65-49 in Memphis. UCF last defeated Memphis in the 2012-13 campaign, an 83-62 victory in Orlando, Fla.

• The Tigers are hoping for a couple of repeat performances from their Jan. 27 victory over UCF. In that win, senior Ariel Hearn recorded the third double-double of her career with 12 points and a season-best 10 assists. Also, sophomore Cheyenne Creighton netted a career-high 17 points against the Knights. Creighton scored her 17 points on 7-of-8 FG and 3-of-6 FT. The seven FG made tied a career high.

• Memphis will go after an American Athletic Conference record Wednesday – their own record. With a win Wednesday, the Tigers would record their eighth league win of the season. If successful, Memphis' eight wins would be the most conference victories in a single season since it joined the American Athletic Conference in 2013. In their first two American Athletic Conference campaigns, the Tigers won six (6-12) and seven (7-11) league games in 2013-14 and 2014-15, respectively.

• The Tigers are proving they can win the "close-call" games in 2015-16. Memphis has a perfect 5-0 record in games decided by five or fewer points this season. The previous two campaigns, the Tigers had a 9-8 record in contests decided by five or fewer points.

• Wednesday's game will have an international feel to it. The teams' two rosters have a combined five international players representing three different countries outside of the United States. The Tigers have three international players. Junior college transfer Loysha Morris (Toronto, Ontario) and sophomore forward Cheyenne Creighton (Pickering, Ontario) both are from Canada. Freshman forward Milena Bajic calls Podogorica, Montenegro, home. The Knights have two international players. Freshman Ashley Polacek is from Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, and sophomore Fifi Ndour calls Dakar, Senegal, home.

Scouting UCF
The Knights enter Wednesday's American Athletic Conference match-up with a 5-18 overall record and a 2-10 league mark. Wednesday's contest begins a stretch in which UCF plays four of its next five games at home. After Wednesday's game, the Knights play at Tulsa Feb. 13 before returning to Orlando, Fla., for three straight against Tulane Feb. 17, SMU Feb. 20 and Houston Feb. 23. The Knights have a 3-8 record at CFE Arena in 2015-16. UCF's lone conference home win was a 75-74 victory over Tulsa Jan. 30.

UCF returns three starters, but only four letterwinners from its 2014-15 team. Zykira Lewis is the Knights' only double-figure scorer at 15.0 ppg. Joslyn Massey is the team's second-leading scorer at 9.3 ppg. Massey's 8.1 rebounds per game lead UCF (sixth in The American). Ashley Polacek is tops on the team with 64 assists (2.8 apg). Lewis is UCF's top three-point threat, taking 169 three-point attempts and hitting 33.1 percent from the arc.

The Knights are shooting 38.2 percent from the floor, 27 percent from the three-point arc and 68.1 percent from the free throw line. UCF is out-rebounding its opponents by an average margin of +3.6 boards per game (42.0- 38.4).