The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
UAB's Carmen Guzman Named C-USA Women's Basketball Player of the Week
12/27/2005 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Dec. 27, 2005
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. ----- UAB junior guard Carmen Guzman, who has averaged better than 20 points a game during her team's current four-game win streak and earned MVP honors at last week's Blazer Invitational, has been named the Conference USA Player of the Week.
Guzman, a 5-9 native of New York, N.Y., is leading the Blazers in scoring at 16.0 points per contest despite coming off the bench in all eight games in which she has seen action.
In picking up her first C-USA Player of the Week accolades, Guzman scored 24, 23 and 17 points in UAB wins over Alabama A&M, Middle Tennessee and Western Kentucky last week. She also notched 17 points in a Dec. 6 win over in-state rival Alabama, the victory that started the Blazers' current win streak.
Guzman's layup with 1.3 seconds left in the game gave UAB a 71-69 win over Middle Tennessee and bragging rights of the Blazer Invitational, held Dec. 18-19 at Bartow Arena. Guzman tallied 23 points, including 17 in the second half, and five assists against the Blue Raiders.
She hit a free throw with 11 seconds remaining in the contest to seal the Blazers' 66-61 win over Western Kentucky on Dec. 21. Her 17 points, five rebounds and five steals were all team-highs against the Toppers. The Blazers (5-4) were down by as much as 15 in the final minutes of the first half to Middle Tennessee, but battled back to tie the score four times in the final 20 minutes of play and eventually take the win thanks to the efforts of Guzman.
UAB also erased a 10-point second-half deficit to beat Western Kentucky. Prior to last Wednesday's game, Western Kentucky had a 9-1 record and was receiving votes in the week's USA Today/ESPN Coaches' Poll.
Guzman's player-of-the-week recognition is the first for a UAB women's basketball player since February of 2002 when Michelle Smith was tabbed for the league honor.
The Blazers will return to action and put their four-game win steak on the line this Thursday as they play host to Mississippi State. Tip-off is slated for 7 p.m. (CT) in Bartow Arena.
