Jan. 28, 2001

Box Score

TAMPA - South Florida did a good job shutting down Memphis All-America candidate Tiffany Adkins for the first 39 minutes and 59 seconds Sunday afternoon at the Corral. The rest of the game was all Adkins - and the Tigers.

Adkins, Conference USA's third-leading scorer and fifth-leading rebounder, hit a three-pointer to tie the game at 69-all with a second left in regulation and then scored six overtime points in the Tigers' 81-71 victory.

Until the final play of regulation USF had limited Adkins to 11 points and nine rebounds. The senior forward ended the afternoon with a team-high 20 points and a career-high 14 boards.

"Memphis got the ball into their star's hands at the end and she scored but I'm really very proud of our girls and their effort," said USF coach Jose Fernandez. "That was the hardest we have played all year and we also had a great effort against UAB Friday. To have back-to-back efforts like this is great. It's just unbelievable."

USF (3-16, 0-8) seemed to have its first C-USA win of the season and its first victory since a non-league victory over Towson wrapped up when Aiya Shepard drove inside and scored for a 68-60 lead with 1:20 left. Memphis, though, outscored the Bulls 9-1 in the final 1:01 of regulation.

Denetrice Stinson scored the first points of overtime and USF led 71-69 but Memphis (10-9, 3-5) dominated the rest of the way, scoring the final 12 points of the game. The Tigers outscored USF 21-3 over the game's final 6:20.

"They definitely had the momentum going into overtime," said Fernandez. "We're up eight with 1:20 left but didn't get a defensive stop and they scored, then we turn the ball over, they score and all of a sudden it's a four-point game. We go to the line and convert on one of the free throws and then they score the final five points."

The Tigers appeared to take control of the game toward the end of the first half, using a 10-2 run to build a 39-27 lead with 1:36 to play. USF trailed by eight at 41-33 at intermission but a 15-8 run over the first eight minutes of the second half pulled the Bulls within 49-48. A Shannon Layne three-pointer at 6:37 tied the game for the first time since the opening minutes at 56-all and started a 15-4 run that eventually grew to a 68-60 USF advantage.

Memphis took care of business on the boards and held a 57-23 rebounding edge. Melissa Abraham came off the bench and pulled down 20 rebounds, the most by a Tiger since 1987 and the third most in Memphis history. In addition to Adkins' 13, reserve Patrice Boyd had eight and Shannon Hamp added seven.

"Abraham did a phenomenal job of rebounding and that is what kept us alive in this game," said Memphis coach Joye Lee-McNelis. "We have preached a bunch about believing and our players did a great job of making things happen. This was a great win. It was a dogfight today and South Florida played hard. This win should be the win to get us over the hump."

Shepard paced the Bulls with 26 points on 10-of-22 shooting from the floor and had a career-high eight steals which ties her at No. 4 on the USF single-game list. Stinson added 14 points and a team-high six rebounds while Shannon Layne had 13 points.

"Everybody played their hearts out today," said Fernandez. "It was a total team effort. We played awesome. For the most part we didn't turn the ball over and just had two turnovers in the second half. I hope the girls realize that with that type of effort and that type of enthusiasm they can play with anybody in the league."

USF is at Saint Louis while Memphis is at Louisville Friday.