The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
UAB
UCF
Blazers Drop Regular-Season Finale At UCF, 74-59
3/1/2009 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
March 1, 2009
ORLANDO, Fla. - Chelsie Wiley scored 31 points on 9-of-14 shooting and 12-of-13 from the free throw line to lead UCF to a 74-59 win over the UAB women's basketball team on Sunday afternoon at the UCF Arena. Senior guard Britney Jones paced the Blazers with 28 points in both teams' regular-season finale.
UAB ends the regular season with a 10-19 overall record, including a 5-11 mark in Conference USA. UCF improved its overall record to 13-16 and 11-5 in league play.
UCF took a four-point lead on three occasions in the opening minutes of the first half before UAB went on a 7-0 run that spanned just over three minutes to go up by three, 16-13, at the 9:42 mark on a jumper by Jones.
The Knights took a 9-0 run to regain the lead and go up by six, 22-16, with 7:14 remaining in the first half. UCF maintained a solid lead throughout the rest of the half to take a 10-point lead into the break, 37-27.
UCF took control in the second half, leading by double-digits almost the entire half. The Knights, who were up by as much as 20, ended the game with a 15-point win over the Blazers, 74-59.
"I was really proud of the effort that we gave today," said UAB head coach Audra Smith. "We played extremely hard. Unfortunately, it wasn't the outcome that we wanted, but we did some good things today.
"UCF is a tough team. They have a lot of young talent and will be one of the top teams in the conference for years to come."
UAB shot 42.9 percent in the first half, but cooled off in the second half, hitting just 30.4 percent of its shots in the second 20 minutes. Overall, the Blazers shot 37.3 percent from the field, but hit just 1-of-7 (14.3 percent) from beyond the arc. UAB was on target from the free throw line, sinking 20 of its 23 attempts on the day (87.0 percent).
Jones' 28 points came on 7-of-18 shooting and a perfect 13-of-13 from the charity stripe. Jones also added nine rebounds and a game-high five assists for the Blazers.
Junior forward Tamika Dukes shot 6-of-12 for 16 points for UAB, followed by freshman forward Shelly Breaux with a career-high 13 points on 6-of-8 shooting. Breaux also chipped in nine boards and one block.
"Britney, Tamika and Shelly all had good games for us today," said Smith. "For a freshman that has only been playing since January, Shelly has really come in and been a major contributor for us. In the end, I think our depth hurt us today. We needed some more balanced scoring from other players in order to pick up this win."
UCF connected on 43.9 percent of its shots overall, including 46.9 percent in the first half and 40.0 percent in the second half. The Knights went 3-of-7 (42.9 percent) from three-point range and 21-of-25 (84.0 percent) from the free throw line.
Adding to Wiley's 31 points was forward Emma Cannon with a double-double, scoring 21 points and grabbing 13 rebounds for UCF. Guard Angelica Mealing was 5-of-6 from the field, including 2-of-2 from beyond the arc, for 12 points.
Next up for the Blazers is the 2009 Conference USA Tournament, which is set to begin on Thursday in New Orleans, La. All games will be held at Fogelman Arena on the campus of Tulane University.
