The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
UAB
SMU
Dukes' Double-Double Lifts UAB to Victory Over SMU
1/7/2010 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Jan. 7, 2010
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. -- UAB senior forward Tamika Dukes recorded her third career double-double with 19 points and 13 rebounds as the Blazers edged the SMU Mustangs, 62-60, in the Conference USA opener on Thursday afternoon at Bartow Arena. The Blazers have won five of their last six to improve to 7-6 and 1-0 in C-USA.
It marked the fourth year in a row UAB has won its conference opener and the first time since January of 2007 the Blazers have beaten the Mustangs (10-4, 0-1 C-USA).
"Our defense was critical in this game," head coach Audra Smith said. "We held SMU to a lot of one-shot opportunities and followed our own shots. I'm proud of the way the defense came out aggressively and how we crashed the glass on the offensive end."
UAB out-crashed the Mustangs 40-27 on the boards, including an 18-8 advantage in offensive rebounds. The plus-13 rebounding margin was the largest of the season for the Blazers.
Along with Dukes, freshman guard Jala Harris and junior guard Amanda Peterson also reached double-figures. Harris led all-scorers with 21 points, while Peterson added 11. Freshman guard Khalilah Watson was key on the defensive end, coming up with four steals and chipping in six points.
For SMU, guard Brittany Gilliam led the way with 15 points, while guard Jillian Samuels and forward Alice Severin chipped in 11 and 10, respectively.
After an early seesaw battle, the Mustangs built up a seven-point lead with 9:08 left in the first half. That's when Watson turned up the defensive pressure with back-to-back steals to spark a 7-0 run that tied the game at 18 with 7:17 to go.
Watson's third steal of the half came with four seconds left as she stole the Mustangs' in-bounds pass and Dukes knocked down a jumper at the buzzer to cut the Mustangs' lead to 30-29 at the break.
After SMU drained a 3-pointer to open the second half, UAB responded with an 8-0 run to take a 37-33 lead. The Blazers began to pull away, stretching their lead to 47-40 with 12:15 to play, but the Mustangs battled back to regain the lead at the 5:27 mark, 55-54.
With the two teams tied at 60 and nine seconds left in the contest, Dukes went to the charity stripe and hit the second of two free throws to give the Blazers a one-point lead. After SMU turned the ball over on their next possession, the Mustangs committed a quick foul to send freshman guard Amber Jones to the line. Jones knocked down the second free throw to make it 62-60 with three seconds remaining and the Blazer defense smothered SMU's desperation shot at the buzzer to seal the victory.
UAB continues conference play on Saturday, hosting the Tulsa Golden Hurricane at 4 p.m. (CT). The game will air live on CBS College Sports.
