Box Score

Memphis

Season Cumes

MEMPHIS -- Brea Elmore sank two free throws with 6 seconds to play to lift the Memphis Tigers to a 56-54 win over Louisiana Tech before 542 fans at Elma Roane Fieldhouse Monday night.

Tech (5-5), which trailed by as many as 13 points in the first half, fought back in the second half and tied the game at 54-54 on a three-pointer by freshman Kierra Lang -- her fourth of the game -- with 8.1 seconds to play.

However, following back-to-back timeouts -- one each by LA Tech and Memphis -- the Tigers inbounded the basketball at half court to Elmore, who was then fouled by sophomore Jasmine LeBlanc. With Tech over the limit on fouls in the fourth quarter, Elmore went to the free throw line and calmly sank both to give Memphis the two-point lead.

With Tech out of timeouts, the Lady Techsters had to inbound the basketball in the backcourt to Lang who dribbled the length of the court before firing up an off-balance runner that was off the mark at the buzzer.

"It comes down to focus," said Tech head coach Brooke Stoehr. "Losing a game in that fashion is inexcusable. We just came out of two time outs. We said we wanted to force them to catch it going away from the basket and to keep them in front of us. I honestly don't know what we were thinking in that situation.

"Until we decide to focus every day in practice from start to finish, these types of things will happen. We lose our focus in practice and we lost our focus with six seconds to play. It's too bad because we made some great plays down the stretch, and we fought hard to come all the way back."

Tech lost for the fourth time this season by four points or less or in overtime.

Lang, who entered the game with four made three-pointers on the season, was a huge reason why the Lady Techsters were able to fight back from a 21-8 deficit midway through the second quarter. The Springdale, Arkansas native hit back-to-back three-pointers as Tech used a 10-0 run just before the half to trim the deficit to 30-24 at the break.

"I thought we came out tentative," said Stoehr. "I thought we got good looks and good shots but we were just tentative. We told our post players to quit throwing it back out of the paint. We felt we had an advantage. Once we started to go to work down low, we started to score the basketball better."

Sophomore Reauna Cleaver scored a team-high 16 points and grabbed seven rebounds while junior Alexus Malone added 10 points and three steals. Cleaver and Malone combined to go 11-of-15 from the field for the game.

Cleaver tied the game at 47-47 with a layup with 6:38 to play in the game before both teams went cold, going more than four minutes without a point. Memphis retook the lead on a free throw with 2:28 to play but then Cleaver knotted the game at 48-48 hitting 1-of-2 from the charity stripe just 16 seconds later.

Memphis guard Taylor Williams then gave the Tigers a three-point lead after hitting all three free throws after being fouled on a three-point attempt with 1:52 to play. Tech trailed by two in the final minute and needed to force a stop. However, the Lady Techsters saw the Tigers record three offensive rebounds in a 35 second span.

Tech trailed 52-49 with 19 seconds to play. Coming out of a timeout, Tech inbounded the basketball from the front court, lobbying it across the court to the opposite block to Cleaver, who hit a layup to cut the deficit to 52-51.

After Williams hit two more free throws with 12 seconds to play, Tech called a timeout to draw up a play. Once again the Lady Techsters executed as Lang inbounded the basketball to Rochelle Vasquez who then found Lang in the corner for an open three-pointer, tying the game at 54-54 and setting up the final seconds.

"We have been asking Kierra to look for her shot more," said Stoehr. "We know she is a good shooter. Tonight, she finally did that and she made some big shots for us."

Lang finished with a career-high 12 points while Vasquez added 10 points and seven assists.

Williams led Memphis with 17 points while Elmore and Cheyenne Creighton added 13 points each.

Tech returns to action Thursday when it travels to UL-Lafayette.