Dec. 18, 2007

Complete Box Score in PDF Format

Box Score

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. - - Opening the game on a 26-6 run, the University of Arkansas women's basketball team remains perfect at 12-0 following a 91-66 win over Memphis Tuesday night. All five Razorback starters scored double-digit points, and the Lady Razorbacks capped the game with a 52-26 rebounding advantage.

"We did a better job of cutting down on our turnovers, finishing with just 11. We focused all week on closing out to our man and boxing them out, but you have to hand it to Arkansas, they just went out and got the ball and held us to one and done looks."

Memphis had just two rebounds in the first 9:05 of the game, as Whitney Jones and Lauren Ervin dominated the glass early on, getting Arkansas out in to transition, where they scored 16 points off the fast break and 44 points in the paint. On the times Memphis was able to stop the transition game, the Lady Razorbacks relied on the high-low game that featured the biggest tandem inside that Memphis is likely to see this year.

"The combination of Jones and Ervin work so well together," Savage said. "When you defend them, you almost have to choose which one to defend when you're undersized. They are easily the most talented 4-5 combination we've seen so far and are possibly the best combo we'll see this year."

Memphis found some momentum and dug out of a 19-point hole just before the half ended, off a pair of three-point field goals. But the six points in the last minute cut the deficit to 44-30.

But Arkansas came back out following the break and went right back inside, scoring 22 of their 44 second half points in the paint. Memphis countered with a press, which was effective in forcing Arkansas in to 18 turnovers, but the Lady Tigers shot just 32.4 percent from the field, hitting 12 of 37 shots, while Arkansas hit 51.5 percent from the field, with four of those points coming off breaking the press.

Paris Leonard led Memphis with 14 points, adding two blocks, two steals and four rebounds. Jessica Hall added 13 points, while Latoya Bullard added 12 points on 5-for-12 shooting. Jessica Jackson added 10 rebounds, but go in to first half foul trouble. She added a block and a steal in 18 minutes.

Ervin led Arkansas with a double-double of 23 points and 13 rebounds, adding three assists and three blocked shots. Charity Ford scored 13 of her 15 points in the second half, getting most of her buckets from mid-range jumpers while trying to break the Memphis press.

Memphis will wrap up its three-game road swing with a pair of non-conference games at Florida Gulf Coast University in Ft. Myers, beginning on Thursday. The Lady Tigers will open against Loyola-Chicago at 5 p.m. (ET), Thursday night. That game can be heard in Memphis on 91.7 FM (WUMR). Outside of the WUMR listening area, the game can be heard through a subscription plan for All-Access on the Official Tigers' Website at www.gotigersgo.com. All women's basketball games are available under the Audio portion of the All-Access package.