The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
UAB
SMU
Blazers Stay Undefeated In C-USA, Defeat SMU 71-68
1/7/2007 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Jan. 7, 2007
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - The UAB women's basketball team kept its Conference USA record unblemished as it defeated the Mustangs of SMU, 71-68, Sunday afternoon in Bartow Arena to move to 3-0 in league play. The Blazers, who move to 8-7 overall, were led by senior Carmen Guzman and junior Diamond Rogers who combined for 40 points against the Mustangs, scoring 21 and 19 respectively.
UAB and SMU were all tied up at 34-all with one minute left in the first half. Alice Severin hit a layup with six seconds remaining in the half to give the Mustangs a two-point lead at the break, 36-34.
In the first 20 minutes of play, SMU hit 48.5 percent of its shots compared to UAB's 41.7 percent. The Blazers hit 4-of-6 from behind the arc for a 66.7 three-point shooting percentage, while SMU sank just 2-of-5 from three-point range.
The Blazers had two players in double figures at the break, including Rogers with 13 and Guzman with 11. Sharee Shepherd scored a team-high 11 points in the first half, while Severin followed closely with 10 and a team-best six boards.
UAB began to build its lead during the opening minutes of the second half, going up by as much as 11 with 11:20 remaining in the contest on a trey by Rogers. SMU scraped back and came within two at the 2:51 mark on a pair of free throws by Severin, but freshman Erica Simpson and junior Christon Ingram hit key free throws down the stretch to ensure the Blazer victory, 71-68.
In addition to Guzman's team-high 21 points, she also contributed four rebounds and a pair of assists in 40 minutes on the court. Rogers added five rebounds, three blocks, one assist and one steal to her 19 points against the Mustangs.
Ingram tallied eight points and grabbed a team-best seven rebounds on the day, while freshman Fatiha Salaam had nine points, three rebounds, two assists and two steals.
Severin led the Mustangs in scoring with 18 points on 8-of-13 shooting, while also nabbing 11 boards to earn herself a double-double. Janielle Dodds scored 15 points and Shepherd rounded out SMU's double-digit scoring with 12 points.
Overall, UAB shot 44.0 percent, including 46.7 percent from three-point range. SMU hit 42.6 percent of its shots, including just 3-of-12 (.294) from behind the arc. The Mustangs did hold a slight advantage on the boards, out-rebounding UAB 35-33.
The Blazers will take their 3-0 conference mark on the road when they play at UCF on Friday, January 12 at 7 p.m. EST. UAB's next home game will be Thursday, January 18 when East Carolina visits Bartow Arena for a 7 p.m. contest.
