The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
UAB
Texas Pan-American
Women's Basketball Tops Texas-Pan American 102-75
12/8/2001 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Dec. 8, 2001
IOWA CITY - The UAB Lady Blazers (5-3) took third place in the Gazette-Hawkeye Challenge with a convincing 102-75 win over the Texas Pan-American Broncs (1-8) Saturday night in Carver-Hawkeye Arena.
The Nation's leading scorer Deanna Jackson lived up to her statistics, putting down a game-high 34 points on 12-of-18 shooting from the field. She was perfect from the line, going 8-for-8. Natasha Thomas was right behind her teammate with 29 points. She also had a game-high 11 rebounds and totaled 10 assists for her first career triple-double.
The Lady Blazers recorded 29 assists for the game behind 10 from Thomas and Jackson.
"I think the best thing we did tonight was execute offensively," said UAB Head Coach Jeannie Milling. "We shared the ball. The huge stat that stands out to me is the 29 assists. We talked about making more passes in our offense and not forcing the ball or forcing that quick shot. I think that was the difference in the game. Our defensive intensity was very high. We held them to 34 percent in the second half. I think overall it was a good game."
Five players were in double-digits for the Broncs, led by Kelli Kreuser with 17.
Things remained fairly tight in the first half, but Jackson led UAB to a 10-point halftime lead with 21 first half points.
In the second frame, the Lady Blazers quickly jumped out with a 12-0 run and never looked back. A Thomas jumper put UAB over the century mark with 37 seconds left, and a pair of free throws by Shaquetta Rhodes ended the scoring.
Jackson was named to the All-Tournament Team, marking the ninth time she has received the honor during her UAB career. Jackson averaged 26 points, seven rebounds and seven assists over two games at the tournament.
