Lady Tigers Pull Away Late 76-51

Behind a strong night from Maddie Griggs and Jamirah Shutes, the Lady Tigers of Memphis defeated the Red Hawks of Miami (OH) 76-51.  The depth of Katrina Merriweather’s squad was too much for Miami in the fourth quarter as the Red Hawks, who played only eight for the majority of the game, ran into foul trouble and lost two starters.  

The Tigers defense forced 18 turnovers and held Miami (OH) to 35.1% shooting on the night and an even better 11.8% from behind the three-point line on 2-17 shooting while Memphis shot 43.8% from the field and hit 6-15 from behind the arc for 40.0% on the night. 

Maddi Cluse of Miami (OH) came into the game 8^th in the country in scoring at 27.0 ppg and had a blistering start, scoring the first 9 points of the game for the Red Hawks.  Coach Merriweather’s squad then shifted their focus to preventing Cluse from getting the ball and held her scoreless from the 5:15 mark of the first quarter through the end of the first half.  Ivy Wolf, the second leading scorer for the Red Hawks came into the game averaging 17.5 ppg, was held to just 4 points on the night before fouling out in the 4^th. 

For the Tigers, Griggs led the way with 18 points and was 4-8 from beyond the arc while Shutes chipped in 17.  Bench scoring was one sided as Destyne Jackson added another 11 off the bench.  For the game, the Tigers bench scored 30 points while Miami (OH) only got 5 from their bench.   

The Lady Tigers improved to 2-1 on the season while the Red Hawks fell to 1-2.   Next up for Memphis is a road game this Saturday at 1:00 PM against Southern Illinois University Edwardsville.