Marquette University Athletics
Marquette University
Memphis
Marquette Women's Basketball Suffers First League Loss
1/23/2000 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Jan. 23, 2000
MEMPHIS, Tenn. -- The Memphis Lady Tigers converted 30-33 free throws and got 20 points from Tiffany Adkins in sending the Marquette women's basketball team to its first Conference USA loss of the season this afternoon, 80-68, in the Elma Roane Fieldhouse. After taking a three-point lead into the break, Marquette had trouble finding offensive flow in the second half in the face of a smothering Memphis press. Abbie Willenborg had a game-high 25 points to lead Marquette, which is now 14-4, 6-1. Memphis improves to 10-8, 4-3 with the win.
"We knew coming into this game that this was going to be a tough place to play," Marquette head coach Terri Mitchell said. "The crowd was enthusiastically behind Memphis the whole way, creating a hostile environment for us and that played a factor. Hopefully our team and fans can generate that type of enthusiasm over our last four home games. It was an exciting place, but we were on the wrong end of it. We need that electricity at home. It's also a tough chore to stop a team that is shooting like they did from the line."
Willenborg dominated a frenetic, physical first half that saw a number of lead changes. The 6-2 senior center poured in 20 points to stake the Golden Eagles to a three-point halftime advantage. Kiesha Oliver pushed a defiant Marquette fast break, that withstood waves of Tiger defenders and a sympathetic fieldhouse crowd. Oliver ended the opening frame with seven points. Memphis, which got into early foul trouble with its four primary post players picking up two fouls each, was led by Adkins. The transfer from Ole Miss dropped in nine points, going 5-5 from the charity stripe. However, Memphis came back early in the second frame and pulled away late by virtue of 22 second-half free throws and 12 Marquette turnovers after the break. Memphis limited Willenborg to only five points after the break, and the Golden Eagles found no other alternative as they struggled to break the Lady Tigers' full-court defense. Yolanda Reed, Memphis senior point guard, spearheaded that defense and also chipped in 17 points and seven assists.
"We had trouble finding any kind of offensive consistency in the second half. Obviously, we had some success in the beginning by going to Abbie, but we couldn't get into our half-court offense enough after the break to get good looks at the basket."
Willenborg concluded the contest with a season-high 25 points and eight rebounds, two blocks and two steals. Oliver ended the game with 10 points, while Lisa Oldenburg chipped in 13.
The Golden Eagles return to Milwaukee next weekend, when they host South Florida on Fri., Jan. 28, at 7 p.m. (CT) and Houston on Sun., Jan. 30, at 2 p.m.
