The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
UAB
East Carolina
Blazers Fall Short At East Carolina, 70-64
1/24/2009 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Jan. 24, 2009
GREENVILLE, N.C. - Senior guard Britney Jones tied her career-high of 28 points, but it was not enough as the UAB women's basketball team fell to the East Carolina Pirates, 70-64, Saturday afternoon at Williams Arena. LaCoya Terry and Jean Best led five Pirates in double figures with 13 points each, while Kim Gay had a double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds.
UAB falls to 7-13 overall and 2-5 in Conference USA. East Carolina improves its record to 12-7 overall and 3-3 in the league.
East Carolina came out and took the early 4-0 lead, but UAB came back and tied it 6-6. After a close contest throughout the opening half, the game was tied at 24-all at 4:00 before the Blazers took the largest lead of the half, 32-26, at the 1:49 mark. The Pirates scored the final three points of the half and UAB took a three-point lead into the break, 32-29.
In the first 30 seconds of the second half, the Pirates eliminated their deficit and tied the game at 32-all after Gay made a layup and was fouled by UAB's Shelly Breaux. Gay sank her free throw to even the game up.
The two squads traded baskets and kept it a one possession game until East Carolina's Allison Spivey hit her third trey of the day at the 9:05 mark to put the Pirates up 51-46. The Blazers cut into the Pirates' lead, but East Carolina went on a 12-4 run over a four minute span to take a nine point lead, 65-56, with 2:28 left on the clock.
UAB scored the next six points to come within three, 65-62, with 1:40 left, but East Carolina answered with a trey by guard Jasmine Young and made free throws in the final seconds of the game to hold on to the 70-64 win over the Blazers.
"Anytime we play East Carolina, it is always a close game," said UAB head coach Audra Smith. "The result isn't what we wanted, but we played hard today and I am proud of them for that.
"We had the momentum towards the end of the first half, and I think we lost some of that when we came out in the second half. I don't think we had the same energy that we did in the first half."
UAB shot 39.1 percent for the game, including 41.1 percent in the first half and 37.1 percent in the second half. The Blazers went 8-of-21 (38.1 percent) from three-point range and 6-of-8 (75.0 percent) from the charity stripe.
Jones' 28 points marks her fifth consecutive 20-point effort and her 17th double-digit scoring game this season. Jones went 11-of-20 from the field, including 3-of-4 from beyond the arc and 3-of-4 from the free throw line for the Blazers.
Joining Jones in double figures was junior guard Fatiha Salaam and junior forward Tamika Dukes with 11 and 10, respectively. Sophomore guard Amanda Peterson scored four points for UAB and paced the team in rebounds with eight.
East Carolina had the hot hand in the second half, sinking 48.3 percent of its shots, and concluding the game with a 42.4 percent shooting percentage overall. The Pirates put 5-of-11 (45.5 percent) from beyond the arc in the net and went 15-of-20 (75.0 percent) from the free throw line.
Terry dished out a team-high seven assists to accompany her 13 points for East Carolina. Best's 13 points came in just 21 minutes, while also adding four rebounds, one assist, one block and one steal.
Jasmine Young tallied 12 points towards East Carolina's total and Spivey went 3-of-6 from beyond the arc and 2-of-2 from the charity stripe for 11 points. Gay was the final Pirate in double figures with 10 points and a game-high 10 boards.
The Blazers will return to the hardwood on Thursday when they host the Tulane Green Wave. Tip-off is scheduled for 7 p.m. CT at Bartow Arena.
