MEMPHIS, Tennessee — The Memphis Women's Basketball team are primed to put the American Athletic Conference on notice in the tournament.
The Tigers head to Fort Worth as the eighth seeds where they will play ninth seed East Carolina, who ironically knocked them out of the AAC last season 69-60.
Memphis' 2023-24 overall record does not look great, finishing the regular season 13 and 16 and .500 in conference play. But 10 of the Tigers' losses this season were by 10 points or less and they went on a run, winning five of their last six games to close out the regular season.
All of it made more impressive considering the Tigers got off to a four and 11 start this season which saw them at the bottom of the AAC. There's no question head coach Alex Simmons has them playing their best basketball right now.
“This is kind of our first year," Simmons said. "We have been trying to find ourselves, and I think in the past month, in February, we found ourselves as a team and individually.”
The Tigers' identity is all about being aggressive on defense. They average the most offensive rebounds per game in the AAC and the fourth most in the country. They also average the second most steals per game and have the third best turnover margin in the conference.
All of it combined makes the Tigers a formidable opponent because it's hard to game plan for energy.
“That’s part of our identity, defense," Simmons said. "Whether it be turning it over in the half court. Being aggressive in the full court. Being able to get turnovers that transition into points.”
The team are heading into the first round against ECU full of confidence and believe that they can make a deep run in the tournament.
“I think we are the best team in the conference," Memphis Tigers point guard Ki’Ari Cain said. "We have games where we beat ourselves. It wasn’t nothing the other team did. I just feel like we got to come with more focus that we played with before and just play together.”
The Tigers' matchup against the Pirates tips off at 12 p.m. on Sunday, March 10 at Dickies Arena in Fort Worth. You can also watch the game on ESPN+.