Women's basketball falls to Memphis, 80-71

Thursday’s women’s basketball game pitted two fast-paced teams against each other.
The aggressive offensive play of Memphis proved too much for the Hoosiers in
the end.

The 80-71 loss was the first for the Hoosiers (2-1) this season.

The back-and-forth style of play did not favor IU in the second half when the Tigers’ endurance seemed to be at its peak.

Momentum was on the Hoosiers side in the first half. They opened play with an up-tempo offense and strong shooting from the midrange and from outside the arc that the team had not shown yet this year. 

“I like the fact that we have done some things that I have not seen us do in a long time,” IU coach Felisha Legette-Jack said. “The in-and-out game was there for us tonight, and it was not there last week.”

The Hoosiers were tough to beat in the outside game during the first half. They shot 58.3 percent (7-for-12) from behind the arc before halftime but shot only 15.4 percent from long-range in the second half.  

Senior Hope Elam played possibly her best game for IU this season with three 3-pointers and 17 points.

She was the recipient of a majority of those kick-out passes. Sophomore Aulani Sinclair also added 17 for the Hoosiers.

The first half ended with a Memphis run that brought the Tigers within three points going into the locker room.

The change in momentum carried into the second half with the Tigers outscoring the Hoosiers 50-38.

In the second half, the Hoosiers said they saw a lot of things that went right in the first half go wrong. Senior Jori Davis attributed this to part of the loss.

“The little things weren’t going our way,” Davis said. “They had our number so we just have to learn from it and keep pushing.”

Davis finished with a game high 20 points.

Jasmine Lee led Memphis with a double-double — 19 points and 12 rebounds.

The Hoosiers were out-rebounded 44-39 by the Tigers. Turnovers were also a game changer. Memphis (2-1) had 27 points off of IU’s 24 turnovers.

The Hoosiers must take this game in stride as they prepare for a game at 2 p.m. Sunday at No. 18 Georgia. IU will face a tall, strong and fast SEC
opponent.

“I think we just have to forget about this game and get better and move on to the next game,” Elam said. “Georgia is going to be a really good team and another challenge for us.”