On a windy senior day for the University of Memphis women's basketball team (7-21,5-12), the Tigers were overwhelmed by the Tulsa Golden Hurricane (16-13, 10-7), 81-79.
Preceding the game, Tigers Hannah Riddick, DeeDee Hagemann, Layken Cox and Quinzia Fulmore were honored as seniors. While Riddick has another year of eligibility due to a medical redshirt, both she and Hagemann plan to pursue basketball professionally.
The Golden Hurricane began the game with full-court pressure, which gave the Tigers trouble early, forcing eight first-quarter turnovers for the home team.
After allowing a 9-0 run by Tulsa, Memphis ended the first quarter with a 9-0 run, ending the period with a 16-15 lead.
The back-and-forth second quarter was characterized by Memphis's inability to get a stop, as they allowed 30 Tulsa points.
Tilly Boler's three first-half threes kept the Tigers in the game as they trailed at the break, 45-37.
During the extended halftime, the Tigers retired Memphis legend Tamika Whitmore's number 44 jersey.
Whitmore, the two-time Conference USA player of the year, called Saturday "the most spectacular day of her life."
The Tigers' turnover troubles continued through the third quarter, but thanks to another quick triple from Boler and 14 points from guard Tanyuel Welch, Memphis entered the final period trailing 62-68.
In the fourth quarter, the Tigers held the Golden Hurricane to one of their last twelve field goal attempts, but it still was not enough.
The Tigers had a shot to win it with 3.5 seconds remaining, but Tilly Boler's fading three-point attempt fell just short.
Memphis won the rebounding battle 50-33, but the most impactful stat was losing the turnover battle 20-10.
Freshman forward Tamya Smith finished with a career high 19 points, and Boler ended with 25.
The Tigers will finish their regular season visiting Florida Atlantic in Boca Raton on March 4th and will begin AAC tournament play on March 8th.
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