The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
UAB
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Mississippi State
Women's Basketball Beats Mississippi State 76-56
11/29/2001 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Nov. 29, 2001
Deanna Jackson and Natasha Thomas each recorded a double-double for the third straight game as the Lady Blazers (4-1) defeated Mississippi State (4-2) 76-56 in women's college basketball Thursday night at Bartow Arena.
The game featured All-American's Jackson and Mississippi State's LaToya Thomas. Jackson lived up to her billing scoring 28 points and pulling down 19 rebounds. State's Thomas had 15 points and five rebounds.
UAB beat Mississippi State for the second straight time. The last time the two teams met the Lady Blazers advanced to the NCAA Tournament's ?Sweet 16? with a 78-72 win over Mississippi State in Eugene, Ore.
The key to the game was the Lady Blazers had their own Thomas, Natasha, who scored 21 points and pulled down 13 rebounds. Thomas has gotten a double-double in all five games this season.
?It was another great game for those two,? Lady Blazer head coach Jeannie Milling said. ?It is really hard to guard our front court, with Natasha, Deanna and either Shaquetta Rhodes or Michelle Smith. We created a mismatch with Tan White trying to guard Jackson. I don't think anyone can really guard all three.?
While Jackson and Thomas were getting the job done on the offensive end and on the boards, Rhodes and Smith were taking care of MSU's Thomas. They held her to nine points below her 24 points per game average.
?We really were relying on Smith and Rhodes to play her during the game. I felt confident our kids were big enough to defend her. She is so big and physical so we played her up top and helped on the backside,? said Milling.
UAB's big frontcourt led UAB to a 58-37 advantage on the boards. Smith got eight rebounds, giving the starting front three 40 rebounds.
The Lady Blazers took control of the game early, jumping out 11-2 and then stretching the margin to 26-8. The closest State would get after that was 11 points, at 49-38 and then 51-40 with 13:34 remaining in the game.
Jackson took over at that point, scoring six straight points to push the lead back to 17 and put the outcome out of doubt at that point.
After making just 2-of-12 shots from the field in the first half, Jackson finished the game hitting 8-of-21, 6-of-9 in the second half. She also made 11-of-17 from the foul line.
UAB shot 43 percent from the field for the game, 50 percent in the second half. They held the Bulldogs to just 29.5 percent from the field.
The Lady Blazers host another SEC team, Auburn, Monday night, Dec. 3 at 7 p.m. in Bartow Arena.
