The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
UAB
UCF
UAB Drops 80-73 Decision to UCF
2/12/2010 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Feb. 12, 2010
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. -- UAB freshman guards Jala Harris and Amber Jones scored 26 points and 20 points, respectively, but the Blazers (10-12, 4-6 C-USA) were unable to overcome a first-half deficit, falling, 80-73, to the UCF Knights (7-12, 4-6 C-USA) on Friday night at Bartow Arena.
"We kept making a run at (UCF), but we just couldn't pull through," UAB head coach Audra Smith said. "UCF's defense slowed us down for so long and when we finally did make a run, they responded."
Harris cracked the 20-point mark for the ninth time in the last 11 games for her 17th double-digit game of the season. For Jones, it was her eighth double-figure game. Each also dished out five assists in the contest and Jones added four steals.
Senior forward Tamika Dukes delivered a solid performance after missing two games. She chipped in 17 points, three rebounds an assist and a steal. It marked her 15th straight double-digit game and 19th of the season.
UCF's Marshay White led the Kinghts with 26 points, while D'Nay Daniels added 17.
Although UAB shot 48.2 percent from the field, the difference in the game was from the charity stripe. UCF was 24-of-30 from the line compared to the Blazers' 13-of-21 performance.
The game was close early, but the Knights began to pull away near the end of the first half. They widened their lead to eight with 4:51 to play before Dukes sparked a 12-5 UAB run that spanned the halftime break. Harris hit her first bucket of the game at the 4:05 mark and scored the final eight points of the first half for the Blazers, cutting UCF's lead to 29-26 at halftime.
Harris continued that momentum into the second half, scoring 14 straight points for UAB. Overall, Harris scored 22 straight points for the Blazers during a 12:03 stretch, while the Knights combined for 24 points during the span.
UAB also pulled within one point twice during the stretch, but were unable to get ahead as the Knights led throughout the entire second half, stretching their lead to as many as 13 before going on to the eight-point victory.
The Blazers return to the floor looking to snap a six-game skid on Sunday at 2 p.m., hosting the Southern Miss Lady Eagles.
