The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
UAB
Southeast Missouri
Blazers Ride Hot Start To 64-41 Win Over SEMO
11/25/2011 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Nov. 25, 2011
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| Tournament Central
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. -- The UAB women's hoops team played its best 20 minutes so far this season in the first half Friday against Southeast Missouri and rode its hot start to a 64-41 win over the Redhawks on the first day of the UAB Thanksgiving Classic at Bartow Arena.
Three Blazers reached double-figure scoring, led by junior guard Amber Jones with 17 points and sophomore forward Karisma Chapman with 16. Junior guard Nakia McDaniel scored a career-high 12 points -- all in the first half -- on a career-best four 3-pointers.
UAB (2-2) continues action in its own tournament Saturday against Western Kentucky at 4:30 p.m. The Blazers and Lady Toppers will follow Saturday's first game, scheduled for 2 p.m., that features Samford and Southeast Missouri.
UAB jumped out early and never looked back on Friday, turning a 12-5 lead at the first media timeout into a 30-5 advantage before the Redhawks (0-5) could score again. Late in the first half, McDaniel knocked down three treys in a span of five possessions to open up the Blazers' largest lead of the half at 48-17.
"Nakia gave us a lot of minutes tonight," UAB head coach Audra Smith said. "Everybody knows she can shoot it, but her performance tonight does wonders for her confidence and also gives us another threat. I'm proud of the way she played for us tonight."
UAB shot a blistering 54 percent from the field in the opening 20 minutes and 53 percent from beyond the arc. The Blazers forced 12 first-half turnovers and connected on more shots (19) than Southeast Missouri attempted (18). Chapman, who also finished with six rebounds, four assists and three steals, scored 14 of her 16 points before the break.
Jones handled most of the UAB scoring in the second half with 10 of the team's 14 points as the Blazers cooled down from the floor. But despite making just six of 25 second-half shots, UAB was never challenged.
UAB's defense continued to hold Southeast Missouri's offense in check, limiting the Redhawks to just 20 second-half points of their own. SEMO was never able to pull closer than the final margin of 23 points.
"We got comfortable," Smith said. "This is new to us. We're up 32 points with 17 minutes to go in the basketball game. We're looking at the score. We took some quick shots, and we just weren't knocking them down. We stopped being as aggressive as we were in the first half on the defensive end. Fortunately, they weren't able to come back on us, but we have to be able to sustain our same intensity level throughout the whole game."
For the night, UAB shot a season-best 41.7 percent from the floor and turned the ball over just 10 times, the third time in four games this season the Blazers have committed 10 or fewer turnovers. UAB forced 20 SEMO turnovers for the game, the second time the Blazers accomplished that feat in a game this season.
Center Courtney Shiffer led Southeast Missouri with 11 points on 5-of-8 shooting, while guard Bianca Beck added eight points for the Redhawks.
UAB senior center Meagan Brown led all players with nine rebounds, including three on the offensive end, as UAB grabbed double-digit offensive boards for the fourth time in four games with 11.
