The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
UAB
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UTEP
Blazers Stay In First, Top UTEP 54-43
2/7/2007 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Feb. 7, 2007
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - The UAB women's basketball team protected its first-place standing in the Conference USA race by defeating the Miners of UTEP, 54-43, Wednesday evening in Bartow Arena. Senior Carmen Guzman led the Blazers with 24 of UAB's 54 total points on the night.
UAB remains tied with Tulane atop the C-USA rankings, both boasting 9-2 records in league play. Tulane got past Memphis Wednesday evening, 77-61, to keep pace with the Blazers.
With the win over UTEP, the Blazers move to 14-9 overall, matching their win total from last year (14-14) with five games left in the regular season.
"This was a great win for us," said UAB head coach Audra Smith. "Our girls played hard and never gave up. It is always important to protect your home court and to get wins at home.
"UTEP is a good team and we knew that they would challenge us throughout the game. I'm very proud of our team for the way that they played."
After playing to a six-all tie within the opening minutes of the contest, the Blazers went on a 13-4 run that spanned over six minutes to take a 19-10 lead over the Miners with 10:31 left in the first half. UTEP crawled back within three, 22-19, at the 4:24 mark. UAB extended its lead to 10 just minutes before the half, courtesy of five points by Guzman in the last 1:50, to take a 31-21 halftime lead.
UAB sophomore Britney Jones tallied 10 points in the first period to lead all scorers, hitting 4-of-6 from the floor. Guzman scored eight points and junior Diamond Rogers sank five points in the first half. Junior Christon Ingram led all players on the boards with six.
UTEP's leading scorer at the half was Shalana Taylor with five, followed by Claudia Porras and Tasha Marisett with four points each.
The Blazers held a large advantage in shooting in the first half, hitting 48.1 percent of their shots, while UTEP netted 31.3 percent of its attempts.
The starting minutes of the second half saw UTEP go on a 11-4 run to come within three points of the Blazers, 35-32, with 14:26 left in the game. A three-pointer by Guzman put UAB up by six, but Izabela Piekarska tallied two consecutive buckets, followed by a layup by Ana Valtierra, to cut UAB's lead to one, 41-40, at the 9:42 mark.
The Blazers kicked it into high gear and outscored the Miners 13-3 the rest of the game to gain the home victory, 54-43, and keep a share of first place in the conference.
Along with Guzman's 24 points, she also tallied four rebounds, a team-best four assists and a game-high five steals. Jones also finished the night in double figures with 12 points.
Ingram led the Blazers on the boards with nine rebounds, while also adding five points. Rogers contributed seven points and seven rebounds in the UAB win.
UTEP failed to have a player score in double figures, as Williams and Piekarska led the Miners with nine points each. Valtierra grabbed a team-high seven rebounds and also tallied six points.
Next up for the Blazers is a showdown with Tulane, who is tied with UAB for first-place in Conference USA after its win over Memphis Wednesday evening. Tip-off is scheduled for 2 p.m. on Saturday, February 10 in New Orleans, La.
