The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
UAB To Meet Augusta State In Sunday Exhibition
11/6/2009 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Nov. 6, 2009
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. -- The UAB women's basketball team will host Augusta State on Sunday at 2 p.m. CT in the Blazers' lone exhibition game before the start of the 2009-10 season.
Sunday's contest at Bartow Arena will provide the first public game action for sixth year head coach Audra Smith's squad, which welcomes the return of eight letterwinners along with the addition of eight newcomers. The game will serve as a tune-up for the Blazers' season-opener, which is scheduled for Friday, Nov. 13, against Alcorn State.
Junior guard Amanda Peterson leads a group of three returning starters as UAB looks to improve on last year's 10-20 campaign, which marked the first time in three years the Blazers did not finish among the top three teams in Conference USA. Peterson started all 30 games and averaged 11.3 points, 3.8 rebounds and 1.3 assists while leading C-USA with 2.4 three-pointers per game.
Senior forward Tamika Dukes is also back for UAB after posting 8.8 points and 6.2 rebounds per game last season, her first with the Blazers after joining the team from the junior college ranks.
Of the Blazers' eight newcomers, seven are freshmen. Included in that mix are three former Alabama High School Players of the Year in Jala Harris (6A), LaKenya Lowe (4A) and Amber Jones (1A). Harris is the reigning Miss Basketball in the state of Alabama.
"This is the youngest team I've had since I've been here," Smith said. "On top of them being young, they're very talented. This is probably the most skilled team I've had since I've been here. I'm really excited about the beginning of the season. It's hard to believe that it's here already."
Augusta State, which competes at the NCAA Division II level, is coming off a 5-23 campaign in 2008-09. Now in their second year under head coach Tes Sobomehin, the Jaguars must replace their top four scorers from a season ago.
Senior guard Brittany Jarrard leads the charge as the Jaguar's leading returning scorer after averaging 8.6 points per game in 2008-09. Fellow backcourt mate Eboni Davis is also back for Augusta State after tallying a team-best 3.4 assists per game last year.
Including Sunday's exhibition game, UAB will play 16 times at home in 2009-10. As with all home games, fans can follow Sunday's action through Gametracker live stats and All-Access streaming video at uabsports.com.
