The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
UAB
Memphis
UAB Completes Season Sweep of Memphis With 59-45 Win
2/27/2011 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Feb. 27, 2011
MEMPHIS, Tenn. -- UAB sophomore guard Khalilah Watson scored a career-high 22 points, all of which came in the second half, to lead the Blazers to a 59-45 victory over Memphis at the Elma Roane Fieldhouse on Sunday afternoon. The Blazers have won six of their last eight games and complete the season sweep of the Tigers.
"I told them our focus had to be on defense alone and our offense would come," UAB head coach Audra Smith said. "We came out aggressively on defensive in the second half and that allowed us to contest their shots, then come down and execute on the offensive end."
Watson also chipped in five rebounds, three assists and a steal. She was 5-for-5 from the field in the second half and hit 12 of 16 free throws. Those free throws proved to be the difference in the game as UAB finished 21-of-30 from the line compared to the Tigers' 8-of-12 performance.
"It was her time," Smith said. "Khalilah did a phenomenal job of attacking the basket and utilizing screens. She was calm, poised and showed a lot of maturity today."
Sophomore guard Amber Jones scored 12 points for her 21st double-digit game of the season as UAB improved to 15-13 overall and 7-8 in Conference USA.
The Tigers (19-10, 8-7 C-USA) were led by Alex Winchell with 15 points, while Bilqis Abdul-Qaadir chipped in 11.
UAB trailed by a point at halftime, 19-18, before turning up the heat in the second half. The Blazers shot nearly 65 percent in the second half and finished the game shooting a season-best 50 percent from the field.
UAB opened the second half on a 15-6 run to take an eight-point lead at the 14:14 mark thanks to Jones' seven points during the stretch. Memphis hit a drought with 13:51 to play, going without a field goal over the next five minutes. That's when Watson began to take over. Watson scored 19 of the Blazers' final 23 points and her jumper with 7:08 remaining gave UAB its largest lead of the game at 15.
Although the Tigers cut the deficit to eight with 2:32 left in the game, Watson responded by sinking five straight free throws to widen the margin back to 13 and eventually seal the victory for UAB.
The Blazers return home to host the East Carolina Lady Pirates on Thursday for the final game of the regular season. Tipoff is slated for 7 p.m. CT.
