MEMPHIS, Tenn. (University of Memphis) – Senior post Jasmine Lee (Bessemer, Ala./Jess Lanier HS) was named the C-USA Women’s Basketball Player of the Week by CollegeSportsMadness.com.
Lee posted her fourth double-double of the season, her second straight, in an 81-66 win at UALR, Saturday. The 6-2 post finished with a season-high 16 rebounds, adding 17 points on 6-for-12 shooting from the floor. With fellow starters Brittany Carter and Ramses Lonlack each on the bench with two fouls, it fell to Lee, starting point guard Bilqis Abdul-Qaadir and the Tiger bench to hang on to a hard-fought lead in the opening half, 36-27. Lee knocked down 5-of-6 free throw attempts in the first half, finishing with nine points and nine rebounds.
In the second half, Lee added seven rebounds and eight points to help the Tigers weather a pair of UALR runs that cut the once-double-digit lead to just one at 59-58 with 7:07 to go. At that point, Lee stuck in a fast break layup that snapped a 7-2 UALR run. She then assisted on one of three straight Brittany Carter field goals that pushed Memphis back in front, 73-59, with 3:16 to play.
Lee is averaging almost a double-double on the season, with 14.2 points and 9.3 rebounds per game. She is second on the team with six blocks and is shooting 53.1 percent from the floor. The senior has had five double-digit rebounding games and has scored double-digit points in all but one Memphis game so far this season.
The Tigers are in final exams early this week and will fly to New York City this weekend to participate in the St. John’s-Chartwells Holiday Classic. All of the other three teams in this year’s St. John’s tournament were participants in the 2011 NCAA tournament. Memphis will open against Louisiana Tech on Saturday at 3:00 p.m. (ET), then will face either host St. John’s or Prairie View A&M on Sunday at either noon (ET) or 2:00 p.m. (ET). The consolation game will be played at noon and the championship game will be played at 2:00 p.m.
The trip to New York will mark a return to the Big Apple for senior guard Danay Collier. Collier, a graduate of John F. Kennedy High School in the Bronx, has played in all nine games so far this season for the Tigers. She is the team’s fifth-leading scorer (6.4 ppg) and is fourth on the team with 18 assists. The Tigers have asked the senior to play all positions in the backcourt, including point guard, and she made one start earlier this season as the team’s primary defensive stopper in the absence of fellow guard Ramses Lonlack, a two-time C-USA All-Defensive team honoree. Collier is in her second season at Memphis after playing her junior college ball at Monroe Community College.
