The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
UAB Begins Road Stretch at East Carolina
1/27/2010 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Jan. 27, 2010
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. -- The UAB women's basketball team will begin a four-game road stretch at East Carolina on Thursday. The Blazers and Lady Pirates tip off at 6 p.m. CST.
East Carolina leads the overall series, 10-6, and has won the last four against UAB. The last time the two teams met was in last year's Conference USA tournament, when the Lady Pirates captured a 73-59 win. During the 2009-10 regular season, the Lady Pirates won, 70-60, on Feb. 22 at Bartow Arena and, 70-64, on Jan. 24 in Greenville.
UAB's last win against ECU was an 84-77 overtime victory in January of 2008 in Birmingham. The Blazers also went to overtime in their last win in Greenville, a 73-69 victory in Feb. 2007. The series is even at 3-3 when the two teams have met in Greenville.
UAB (10-7, 4-1 C-USA) is coming off a heartbreaking loss against Houston on Sunday. The Blazers overcame an 18-point deficit in the second half of the contest, but fell by a point, 63-62. UAB freshman guard Jala Harris was outstanding in the contest, scoring a career-high 26 points.
For her performance in Sunday's contest, Harris earned her third straight C-USA Freshman of the Week honor, becoming the first player in conference history to receive three consecutive weekly awards. Harris has 12 double-digit games this year and ranks fifth in the conference with 15.5 points a game. In league-only games, Harris not only has a commanding lead among freshmen in scoring average, but she also leads C-USA with 19.4 points a game.
After winning their first four games in conference play, the Lady Pirates (15-4, 4-2 C-USA) have dropped the last two, falling, 73-59, at SMU on Saturday and, 77-74, at Rice on Jan. 17. East Carolina is led by Ashley Clarke and Allison Spivey, averaging 13.1 points and 11.4 points, respectively. Spivey also is the team's leading 3-point shooter at 45.8 percent from behind the arc and is shooting a team-leading 89.3 percent from the stripe.
The Lady Pirates top the conference with 75.7 points a game, which will prove an interesting matchup against UAB's league-leading scoring defense, allowing an average of 57 points in C-USA contests. ECU also tops the conference in 3-point shooting at 43.2 percent in league-only games, again countered by the Blazers' top 3-point field goal defense at 19.7 percent in C-USA games.
