UT wins on road at Memphis in OT Rocket women end non-conference schedule with 7-5 record; MAC season begins Wednesday

By Christa Hieber The Independent Collegian

January 7, 2008

Toledo, OH (UWIRE) -- UT's women's basketball team ended its non-conference schedule on Friday with an impressive 71-68 overtime victory on the road at the University of Memphis.

Trailing 33-21 at halftime, the Rockets rallied to knot the game at 60 at the end of regulation.

UT improved to 7-5 on the season with its third-straight win.

Sophomore Allie Clifton led both teams in scoring with a career-high 24 points and senior Olivia Terry added 13 points.

Despite shooting 39.7 percent for the game, UT was able to make five-of-six field goals in the overtime session to top the Tigers.

Sophomore Lisa Johnson and Terry started the scoring in overtime and continued until the Rockets were able to pull out the victory.

UT got off to a slow start, missing its first 10 shots, before senior Ta'Yani Clark put the team on the board with a layup at the 14:54 mark.

Terry knocked down a pair of three pointers within 30 seconds of each other to even the score at 12.

The Rockets stayed close, but the Tigers ended the half with a nine-point run to take a 22-point lead, 33-21.

"We didn't play well in the first half, and we were out of sync, but I thought if we could string together a couple of baskets, we could get back in the game, and that's what we did," said Head Coach Mark Ehlen. "We hit a couple threes to draw us back in, and we made enough stops down the stretch to pull this one out. After the intermission we played like a team."

Memphis pulled even farther ahead to start the second half, but freshman Amber Heistan knocked down three-straight triples and kept UT in the game as the team pulled within six points with 9:11 remaining in the game.

UT took its first lead of the game with 3:49 to play on two three pointers by Clifton and a fast-break layup by Terry.

The Tigers took the lead back, but Clifton knocked down another three pointer to tie the score at 60.

Neither team could score on their final drive, as the Tigers missed to final shots to head into overtime.

Sophomore Lisa Johnson scored nine points and led UT defensively with 18 rebounds. Senior Nacole Stocks also added eight points along with seven rebounds and seven assists.

Memphis was led by Jessica Jackson - the only player to have a double double -who scored 19 points and pulled down 16 rebounds.

The Tigers shot just 34.9 percent from the field and had a small advantage in rebounds 52-49.

While on winter break, the Rockets defeated the University of Detroit 55-40 on the road, lost to the University of Texas-El Paso at Savage Hall 64-56 and won the Miami (Fla.) Holiday Classic on Dec. 29 and 30.

UT defeated the University of Central Arkansas 63-57 and the University of Maine 61-57 to win its first holiday tournament in more than a decade.

"It [was] great to win a tournament and two games on the road," said Head Coach Mark Ehlen following the victory over Maine.

Clifton and Scotton were named to the All-Tournament Team and Clifton earned Most Valuable Player honors.

The Rockets return to action Wednesday when the team hosts Central Michigan University in its Mid-American Conference opener. Tip off is set for 7 p.m.

The team's first road MAC test will be against Eastern Michigan University on Saturday.