The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
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East Carolina
Chapman Posts Double-Double In UAB Loss To East Carolina
1/27/2011 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Jan. 27, 2011
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. -- Freshman forward Karisma Chapman posted her first career double-double with 12 points and 11 rebounds, but it was not enough as the UAB women's basketball team dropped a 71-64 decision to East Carolina on Thursday night at Minges Coliseum.
Senior guard Amanda Peterson led the Blazers (9-11, 1-6 C-USA) with 18 points, while sophomore guard Amber Jones added 13 points and four assists. Junior guard LaShaunda Pratt also cracked double figures with 10 points and chipped in four assists.
For East Carolina (8-11, 2-4 C-USA), guard Allison Spivey led all scorers with 20 points and grabbed seven rebounds. Forward Kim Gay scored 12 point and chipped in seven rebounds as well, while guard Ashley Clarke added 11.
The biggest difference in the game proved to be from the charity stripe. The Lady Pirates took advantage of free-throw shooting, hitting 25-of-33 from the line while the Blazers hit just 7-of-16.
"We just couldn't get our shots to fall in the first half," UAB head coach Audra Smith said. "Every time we would make a run at them, (the Lady Pirates) would respond with a basket in transition or we'd send them to the line, which obviously happened too much."
In a game where UAB never led, the Blazers struggled from the field in the first half, shooting just 25 percent, and fell behind by nine with 14:15 to go in the early frame. UAB battled back, cutting the deficit to one after back-to-back 3-pointers by sophomore guard LaKenya Lowe and Peterson. The Lady Pirates responded with a pair of buckets to stretch the lead back to five. Although the Blazers cut it back to three in the final seconds of the half, a wide open layup by Spivey in transition as time expired gave the Lady Pirates a five-point halftime advantage.
East Carolina began to pull away midway through the second half, leading by as many as 12 with 11:46 remaining. UAB would close the gap to five with 14 seconds left in the contest, but solid free-throw shooting down the stretch sealed the Lady Pirates' seven-point win.
UAB returns home on Sunday to host the Marshall Thundering Herd. Tipoff is slated for 2 p.m. in Bartow Arena.
