Blazers Win Fourth-Straight Contest; Defeat Western Kentucky, 66-61

Wednesday, December 21

Birmingham, Ala.

7:00 PM

UAB

Western Kentucky

Blazers Win Fourth-Straight Contest; Defeat Western Kentucky, 66-61

12/21/2005 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball

Dec. 21, 2005

Box Score

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. ----- The UAB women's basketball team finished the game on a 15-3 run to defeat Western Kentucky, 66-61, Wednesday night. The win was the Blazers' fourth-consecutive victory and the second-straight come-from-behind win, as they improved to 5-4 on the season.

After being down 47-37 with under 12 minutes left in the game, UAB battled back and outscored the Lady Toppers, 29-14, the rest of the way for the win. With the loss, Western Kentucky falls to 9-2 on the season.

Junior Carmen Guzman led UAB for the third-consecutive game with 17 points in the contest, while freshman Britney Jones tallied a career-best 16, including 13 in the second half. Freshman Brianna Berry also recorded a career-high nine points as well.

"The women really see the light at the end of the tunnel," said UAB head coach Audra Smith. "We have a lot of confidence right now. We've played two games against tough teams where we've had to come from behind. The ladies have been great about not getting down and keeping their heads up. We came up with deflections and rebounds at key points in tonight's game. Britney Jones really stepped up big tonight as a freshman. She just played with so much poise and was able to hit two big shots. We have to keep this confidence and keep this rolling through the break."

Tonight's contest was a tale of two halves, as the Blazers improved their shooting from 37.9 percent in the first half to 56.5 in the final 20 minutes of play. Once again, UAB's defense came to play in the second half, scoring 14 points off the Lady Toppers' 11 turnovers. The Blazers' bench also proved to be instrumental in the victory, as the subs tallied 32 points, compared to six by Western Kentucky's bench.

UAB avenged its 92-50 beating by Western Kentucky in last season's opening game. A young Blazer team hit only 25.8 percent of its shots and turned the ball over 26 times. UAB also allowed the Lady Toppers 54 points in the final 20 minutes of action last year. In tonight's game, the Blazers hit 46.2 percent from the floor.

The Blazers take a break from action for the Christmas holiday, but return to action next Thursday, Dec. 29, when it hosts Mississippi State at 7 p.m.