The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
UAB Looks To Extend Winning Streak Against Clemson Wednesday
12/14/2010 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Dec. 14, 2010
UAB-Clemson Game Notes | Gametracker | Watch
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. -- The UAB women's basketball team looks to extend its winning streak to four games when it hosts Clemson on Wednesday at 7 p.m. in Bartow Arena.
The series between UAB and Clemson is even at 2-2. The two teams have not met since 1987 when UAB captured a 75-67 win over Clemson at the Birmingham-Jefferson Civic Center (BJCC). Although the Tigers will be making their third trip to Birmingham to take on the Blazers, it will be the first contest between the two teams at Bartow Arena. The 1979 meeting was played in Bell Gym where Clemson earned an 84-72 win.
In UAB's last outing on Dec. 5, junior center Meagan Brown registered a career-high five blocked shots as the Blazers (5-3) cruised to a 61-37 win over Belmont. Sophomore guard Jala Harris led the Blazers with 14 points and nine different Blazers scored at least one point.
Harris leads the Blazers at 14.0 points per game, while Brown has been the leading rebounder at 6.0 rebounds per game.
Senior guard Amanda Peterson continues to close in on the school's career 3-point record, needing just 12 treys to break the record of 245 set by Gina Sutko. Peterson also is just 25 points shy of cracking 1,000 for her career.
Clemson (6-3) got off to a 5-1 start this season, the best for the Tigers since the 2003-04 campaign. In the team's last outing against Samford on Sunday, the Tigers fell, 58-48.
Senior Sthefany Thomas leads Clemson with 13.6 points per game and has cracked double-figures in seven of the first eight games.
Prior to Sunday's contest, the Tigers had been hot from beyond the arc, leading the ACC in 3-point percentage (.404) and 3-point defense (.248). A 3-for-20 performance against the Bulldogs set the Tigers back to .366 in 3-point shooting. Clemson's defense also has improved from last season, as the Tigers have held five opponents to 57 or fewer points this season, a feat they accomplished only four times all of last season. In addition to Sunday's loss, the Tigers also suffered defeats at South Carolina (73-59) and to Indiana (65-51).
An interesting sidenote on Clemson is that assistant coach Chris Long will make his return to Birmingham after serving as an assistant with the UAB men's basketball team during the 2009-10 season. Long helped the Blazers to a 25-9 record and an appearance in the NIT quarterfinals.
