Memphis Tigers women's basketball

Memphis Tigers
Memphis Tigers
	2023–24 Memphis Tigers women's basketball team
University	University of Memphis
First season	1914
All-time record	680–503 (.575)
Head coach	Alex Simmons (1st season)
Conference	The American
Location	Memphis, Tennessee
Arena	Elma Roane Fieldhouse ; (Capacity: 2,565)
Nickname	Tigers
Student section	Blue Crew
Colors	Blue and gray;
Uniforms
Home	Away ;
NCAA tournament Sweet Sixteen
	1982
NCAA tournament appearances
	1982, 1985, 1987, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998
Conference tournament champions
	1982, 1985 (Metro) ; 1996, 1998 (C-USA)

The Memphis Tigers women's basketball team represents the University of Memphis in NCAA Division I women's college basketball. The Tigers compete in the American Athletic Conference. They previously competed in Conference USA in which they have won two Conference USA conference tournament championships and, prior to that two Metro Conference tournament championships. They play home games at the Elma Roane Fieldhouse and FedExForum.

History[edit]

The first inter-school game of the Memphis Tigers (then West Tennessee State Normal School) was a 24–0 win over Whitehaven High School in 1914. The University dropped women's athletics in 1936 and did not return women's athletics to varsity sport status until the 1972–73 season.^[2]

The team has competed in the NCAA tournament seven times.,^[3] the WNIT five times,^[4] the National Women's Invitational tournament one time^[4] and the Women's Basketball Invitational one time.^[4]

Jamirah Shutes, a senior guard on the 2022–23 Memphis women’s basketball team, initially pled not guilty to an assault charge after she was accused of punching a Bowling Green player in the face following the Memphis Tigers' loss in the Women’s National Invitational Tournament (WNIT) on March 24, 2023, officials confirmed. She later changed her plea and was found guilty and her sentence included anger management. ^[5]

Head coaches[edit]

Memphis coaching history
Tenure	Coach	Seasons	Record	Pct.
1919–1922	Martha Teuton	3	38–5–1	.875
1922–1923	W. H. Depriest	1	11–8	.579
1923–1924	Crowley Davis	1	4–4	.500
1924–1927	Leo Lindsey	3	32–8–1	.793
1929–1935	Ethel Blackman	8	57–29–2	.659
1972–1991	Mary Lou Johns	19	368–215	.631
1991–2004	Joye Lee-McNelis	13	229–156	.595
2004–2008	Blair Savage-Lansden	4	30–88	.254
2008–2021	Melissa McFerrin	13	140–116	.547
2021–2023	Katrina Merriweather	2	38–23	.623
2023–	Alex Simmons	1	–	–

Year by year results[edit]

TCWSF—Tennessee College Women's Sports Federation

—Conference tournament winners

Source^[6]

Season	Team	Overall	Conference	Standing	Postseason
Mary Lou Johns (Independent, Metro) (1972–1991)
1972–73	Mary Lou Johns	17–6	–
1973–74	Mary Lou Johns	23–9	–
1974–75	Mary Lou Johns	29–9	–
1975–76	Mary Lou Johns	19–8	–
1976–77	Mary Lou Johns	27–9	–
1977–78	Mary Lou Johns	29–9	–		Region II Tournament
1978–79	Mary Lou Johns	26–7	–		TCWSF
1979–80	Mary Lou Johns	19–12	–		TCWSF
1980–81	Mary Lou Johns	20–11	–		TCWSF
Metro Conference
1981–82	Mary Lou Johns	26–5	6–1	‡ (Metro)	NCAA Sixteen
1982–83	Mary Lou Johns	20–12	6–3		NWIT Second Place
1983–84	Mary Lou Johns	18–12	9–1
1984–85	Mary Lou Johns	23–7	9–1	‡	NCAA First Round
1985–86	Mary Lou Johns	16–12	7–1
1986–87	Mary Lou Johns	20–9	10–2		NCAA Second Round (Bye)
1987–88	Mary Lou Johns	15–15	7–5
1988–89	Mary Lou Johns	9–19	2–11
1989–90	Mary Lou Johns	6–22	3–11
1990–91	Mary Lou Johns	6–22	4–10
Mary Lou Johns:		368–215	63–46
Great Midwest Conference
Joye Lee-McNelis (Great Midwest, Conference USA) (1992–2005)
1991–92	Joye Lee-McNelis	12–17	4–6	(Great Midwest)
1992–93	Joye Lee-McNelis	12–16	3–7
1993–94	Joye Lee-McNelis	17–12	8–5
1994–95	Joye Lee-McNelis	22–8	9–2		NCAA Second Round
Conference USA‡
1995–96	Joye Lee-McNelis	20–11	10–4	1st‡ (White) (CUSA)	NCAA First Round
1996–97	Joye Lee-McNelis	22–7	12–2	T-1st (White)	NCAA First Round
1997–98	Joye Lee-McNelis	22–8	13–3	1st‡ (National)	NCAA First Round
1998–99	Joye Lee-McNelis	22–10	10–6	2nd (National)	WNIT Semifinals
1999–2000	Joye Lee-McNelis	18–12	11–5	2nd (National)	WNIT Second Round
2000–01	Joye Lee-McNelis	17–13	9–7	4th (National)	WNIT First Round
2001–02	Joye Lee-McNelis	11–17	5–9	10th
2002–03	Joye Lee-McNelis	13–15	6–8	T-7th
2003–04	Joye Lee-McNelis	21–10	9–5	T-5th	WNIT Second Round
Joye Lee-McNelis:		229–156	109–69
Blair Savage-Lansden (Conference USA) (2004–2008)
2004–05	Blair Savage-Lansden	13–16	5–9	9th
2005–06	Blair Savage-Lansden	3–25	1–15	12th
2006–07	Blair Savage-Lansden	4–27	1–15	12th
2007–08	Blair Savage-Lansden	10–20	7–9	T-6th
Blair Savage-Lansden:		30–88	14–48
Melissa McFerrin (Conference USA, American) (2008–2021)
2008–09	Melissa McFerrin	12–18	5–11	T-9th (CUSA)
2009–10	Melissa McFerrin	20–14	10–6	T-2nd	WBI Finals
2010–11	Melissa McFerrin	20–13	8–8	6th	WNIT First Round
2011–12	Melissa McFerrin	25–8	13–3	2nd	WNIT Second Round
2012–13	Melissa McFerrin	17–15	8–8	T-5th	WNIT First Round
American Athletic Conference
2013–14	Melissa McFerrin	13–18	6–12	7th
2014–15	Melissa McFerrin	14–17	7–11	7th
2015–16	Melissa McFerrin	18–13	12–6	4th	WNIT First Round
2016–17	Melissa McFerrin	14–16	7–9	T-5th
2017–18	Melissa McFerrin	10–20	5–11	t-8th
2018–19	Melissa McFerrin	11–20	5–11	T-8th
2019–20	Melissa McFerrin	14–17	5–11	11th
2020–21	Melissa McFerrin	4–15	2–11	10th
Melissa McFerrin:		164–152	81–85
Katrina Merriweather (American) (2021–2023)
2021–22	Katrina Merriweather	16–12	6–9	7th
2022–23	Katrina Merriweather	22–11	11–4	2nd	WNIT Super Sixteen
Katrina Merriweather:		38–23	17–13
Alex Simmons (American) (2023–present)
2023–24	Alex Simmons
Total:		757–564
National champion Postseason invitational champion Conference regular season champion Conference regular season and conference tournament champion Division regular season champion Division regular season and conference tournament champion Conference tournament champion

NCAA tournament results[edit]

Memphis has reached the NCAA tournament seven times, six officially, due to them vacating their participation in the 1985 tournament due to violations. They have a combined record of 2–7.

Year	Seed	Round	Opponent	Result
1982	#3	First Round Sweet Sixteen	#6 Ole Miss #2 Tennessee	W 72–70 L 63–78
1985	#6	First Round	#3 Auburn	L 64–82
1987	#6	Second Round	#3 Virginia	L 75–76
1995	#8	First Round Second Round	#9 USC #8 Vanderbilt	W 74–72 L 68–95
1996	#8	First Round	#9 Ohio State	L 75–97
1997	#11	First Round	#6 Notre Dame	L 62–93
1998	#5	First Round	#12 Youngstown State	L 80–91

References[edit]

^ The University of Memphis Athletic Brand Standards. April 29, 2022. Retrieved June 25, 2022.
^ "2011–12 Memphis Women's Basketball Fact Book". gotigersgo.com. Archived from the original on 2012-03-15.
^ "2009–10 Women's Basketball Information Guide". gotigersgo.com.
^ ^a ^b ^c "2011–12 Memphis Women's Basketball Fact Book – Memphis Tigers Official Athletic Site". Archived from the original on 2012-03-15. Retrieved 2011-10-20.Memphis women's basketball media guide
^ Glasspiegel, Ryan (March 29, 2023). "Memphis star Jamirah Shutes pleads not guilty after handshake-line sucker punch". New York Post. Retrieved April 8, 2023.
^ "Media Guide". University of Memphis. Retrieved 11 Aug 2013.

External links[edit]

Official website

[1] The University of Memphis Athletic Brand Standards. April 29, 2022. Retrieved June 25, 2022.

[2] "2011–12 Memphis Women's Basketball Fact Book". gotigersgo.com. Archived from the original on 2012-03-15.

[3] "2009–10 Women's Basketball Information Guide". gotigersgo.com.

[auto-4] "2011–12 Memphis Women's Basketball Fact Book – Memphis Tigers Official Athletic Site". Archived from the original on 2012-03-15. Retrieved 2011-10-20.Memphis women's basketball media guide

[5] Glasspiegel, Ryan (March 29, 2023). "Memphis star Jamirah Shutes pleads not guilty after handshake-line sucker punch". New York Post. Retrieved April 8, 2023.

[Media_Guide-6] "Media Guide". University of Memphis. Retrieved 11 Aug 2013.

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v t e Memphis Tigers women's basketball
Venues	Various locations (1920–1929) Memorial Fieldhouse (1929–1936, 1972–present)
Rivalries	Cincinnati Louisville
Culture & lore	Newby's TOM (mascot) "Go Tigers Go" Mighty Sound of the South
People	Head coaches
Seasons	1914–15 1915–16 1916–17 1917–18 1918–19 1919–20 1920–21 1921–22 1922–23 1923–24 1924–25 1925–26 1926–27 1927–28 1928–29 1929–30 1930–31 1931–32 1932–33 1933–34 1934–35 1935–36 1936–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24

v t e University of Memphis
Located in: Memphis, Tennessee
Academics	University of Memphis University of Memphis, School of Law FedEx Institute of Technology Advanced Distributed Learning Workforce Co-Lab
Athletics	Memphis Tigers Men's basketball Women's basketball Football Men's soccer Simmons Bank Liberty Stadium List of Memphis athletes FedEx Park Baseball Field, University of Memphis Memphis Soccer & Track Stadium University of Memphis Tennis Complex Elma Roane Fieldhouse
Journals	Southern Journal of Philosophy University of Memphis Law Review
Life	The Daily Helmsman Mighty Sound of the South FedEx Forum Art Museum at the University of Memphis WYXR TOM II TOM III Memphis Pom
Founded: 1912 Students: 20,585 Endowment: 199 million

v t e American Athletic Conference women's basketball
Teams	Charlotte 49ers East Carolina Pirates Florida Atlantic Owls Memphis Tigers North Texas Mean Green Rice Owls SMU Mustangs (leaving in 2024) South Florida Bulls Temple Owls Tulane Green Wave Tulsa Golden Hurricane UAB Blazers UTSA Roadrunners Wichita State Shockers
Championships & awards	Conference tournament Player of the Year
Seasons	2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24