The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
UAB
Stetson
Women's Basketball Tops Stetson In Season Opener, 73-58
11/14/2008 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Nov. 14, 2008
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - Senior guard Britney Jones scored 22 points and sophomore guard Amanda Peterson had a double-double with 15 points and 15 rebounds as the UAB women's basketball team defeated Stetson, 73-58, in both teams' season-opening game Friday afternoon in Bartow Arena.
UAB (1-0) improved its record to 13-18 all-time in season-opening games and 20-11 in home openers with the win over Stetson (0-1).
Stetson jumped out to the early lead, going up by as much as seven points, 7-0, in the opening minutes of the game. The Blazers clawed their way back and tied the game for the first time, 14-14, at the 6:27 mark on a jumper by junior forward Tamika Dukes.
UAB finally took its first lead of the game, 23-21, with 3:46 left in the first half on a pair of free throws by junior guard Fatiha Salaam. The Blazers outscored the Hatters, 7-3, to close the first period and hold a 30-24 lead at halftime.
UAB came out with the hot hand in the second half and it took the Blazers less than eight minutes to take their first double-digit lead of the game, 48-37, with 12:48 left on the clock.
A jumper by junior forward Erica Simpson at the 8:06 mark gave UAB its first 20-point lead of the game, 59-39. Solid defense down the stretch gave the Blazers the 73-58 opening-day victory.
"It was good to get this first win under our belts," said UAB head coach Audra Smith. "We saw some good things today that we can build on. We rebounded well and shot pretty good, but we need to do a better job from the free throw line. We also need to work on cutting down our turnovers."
UAB shot 42.2 percent for the game, including 31.6 percent from beyond the arc. However, the Blazers had some trouble from the free throw line, hitting just 13-of-28 (46.4 percent) for the game.
Jones hit 50 percent of her shots, going 8-of-16 from the field, including 3-of-7 from three-point range, for a game-high 22 points. Jones also contributed three rebounds, three assists and four steals.
Peterson garnered the first double-double of her career with 15 points and a career-high 15 rebounds for the Blazers.
In her Blazer debut, Dukes tallied 15 points on 6-of-12 shooting, while also adding eight boards and three steals. Salaam rounded out UAB's double-digit scoring with 12 points on 3-of-5 from the floor and a perfect 6-of-6 from the charity stripe.
Stetson shot 39.3 percent on the day, including 46.7 percent in the second half. The Hatters were 5-of-9 (55.6 percent) from the three-point line, but went just 5-of-20 (25.0 percent) from the free throw line.
Tierra Brown led Stetson in scoring with 14 points, followed closely by Sharnesha Smith with 12. Ashli Jackson added seven points and a team-best eight rebounds for the Hatters.
The Blazers will be back in action on Monday when they play at South Alabama. Tip-off is scheduled for 7 p.m. CT at The Mitchell Center in Mobile, Ala.
"We'll go back and look at the film from today and evaluate some things," said Smith. "We have to start getting ready for our first road game at South Alabama in just a few days. We're looking forward to it and seeing how this young team responds to road games."
