Jan. 2, 2002

Box Score

MEMPHIS, TENN. - Jessica McClure hit a 10-foot jumper at the buzzer to push Middle Tennessee past the Memphis Lady Tiger basketball team, 82-80, here at the Elma Roane Fieldhouse Wednesday evening. Memphis falls to 6-7 on the year while MTSU improves to 8-5.

MTSU outscored Memphis 5-0 at the start of the overtime period to lead 78-73 with 2:28 left in the game. Senior Melissa Abraham scored UM's first bucket of the overtime after grabbing the offensive rebound and hitting a lay-up with 1:58 left with Memphis behind, 78-75. Junior Shannon Hamp pulled Memphis within one with 1:22 left, 78-77, after hitting a lay-up and drawing the foul. Hamp missed her free-throw shot, but Memphis managed to pull down the offensive board. Freshman Aesha Carter was fouled with 53.3 seconds left and made the second of her two free throws to tie the game, 78-78. MTSU's Jamie Thomatis answered with two points of her own off a jumper to give the Lady Raiders the 80-78 lead. Memphis' Raven Rogers came off the bench to replace her sister Tamika, who was injured, and tied the score at 80 with her first bucket of the game with 26.5 seconds left. In the final seconds of the game, MTSU's McClure wrestled on the floor for the loose ball and came up with the buzzer-beating shot for the MTSU victory.

"The bottom line is that they (MTSU) wanted the ball to score," said head coach Joye Lee-McNelis. "If you are going to go after the ball on the floor, get your whole body on the floor and fight for the ball. All we did was reach and grab with our hands, and they wanted it more. If you want the ball, get the ball. The bottom line is that McClure wanted the ball, and she got it and scored. That boils down to someone saying 'I'm going to beat your butt and I am going to get the winning shot.'"

"If you want to score, you're going to score," added McNelis. "If you want to rebound, you are going to rebound. You don't have to have a coach in your ear saying ' go get the rebound.' "I promise you, we will battle back. The thing that is most frustrating about the loss is that we have really practiced well the last few days. We have practiced hard and I really thought we would come out better against this team."

Hamp led Memphis in scoring with a season-high 26 points - one shy of her career-high - off an 11-of-17 effort from the field and a 4-of-7 performance from the free-throw line. Hamp pulled down just two rebounds in the game, but has scored in double figures in 12 of the 13 games this season. Abraham recorded her eighth career double-double with 12 boards and 12 points against MTSU. Abraham also totaled three blocked shots and four steals in the loss. Carter was the only other Lady Tiger in double digits with 10 points. Senior Lauren Jackson led Memphis in assists with eight, while totaling five rebounds and four points.

Tamika Rogers left the game during overtime with a knee injury to her right knee, which she wears a brace on from a previous surgery. She tore her anterior cruciate ligament and missed last season while in rehabilitation. She will undergo an MRI on Thursday. Princess Swilley, who scored six points in 19 minutes of action, did not play at the end of the game because she had been sick the last few games. She was pulled after feeling sick from a respiratory illness she had been battling.

"I thought we got out of the starting blocks alright," said McNelis. "Our post players were non-existent in the first half. We were just going through the motions. If Shannon Hamp can get 17 points in the second half, she should be able to get 17 points in the first half. That is just heart. She is a junior and she should be showing up to play every game. You never know when the freshmen are going to show up, but the juniors and seniors need to come ready to play every game. I think we played afraid. Rather than playing to win, I think we were playing not to lose."

Tiffany Fisher led MTSU with 19 points and seven rebounds. Jamie Thomatis scored 16 points off a 6-of-13 effort from the field and a 4-of-4 effort from the line. Joanne Aluka and Patrice Holmes also scored in double digits with 14 points and 12 points, respectively. MTSU outrebounded Memphis, 31-28, but turned the ball over 27 times to Memphis' 27 turnovers.

The Lady Tigers will open Conference USA action this weekend when they travel to St. Louis, Mo., to take on the SLU Billikens on Sunday at 2 p.m. Memphis is currently 4-2 in C-USA openers, and 2-2 in C-USA road openers. This will be the first time that Memphis will open the C-USA season against Saint Louis.