The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
UAB
.png&width=60&height=60&type=webp)
UTEP
Peterson's 27 Points Propel UAB To Win Over UTEP
2/6/2011 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Feb. 6, 2011
EL PASO, Texas -- Senior guard Amanda Peterson netted a season-high 27 points to propel the UAB women's basketball team to a 62-56 win over the UTEP Miners on Sunday afternoon at the Don Haskins Center. The victory marked the first time in program history the Blazers have defeated the Miners in El Paso.
UAB also earned its first Conference USA road win of the season, improving to 11-11 overall and 3-6 in league play. The Miners fall to 12-9 overall and 4-5 in C-USA.
"It was definitely an all-around effort on the defensive end today and the team did an excellent job of switching defensive styles to confuse UTEP," UAB head coach Audra Smith said. "We stayed focused and I was pleasantly surprised how our team didn't allow any of UTEP's runs throughout the game to set us back on our heels."
Peterson knocked down a season-best six 3-pointers in the contest and her 27 points were just one shy of her career-high.
"Peterson was our beast today, and I always say feed the beast," Smith said. "She was feeling it. She played like a senior should play and had the mindset that she wasn't going to be denied."
Junior guard LaShaunda Pratt chipped in 16 points in the contest, along with three steals and two assists. Pratt scored all 16 of her points in the second half and was key from the free throw line down the stretch, hitting 9-of-12 from the charity stripe.
Center Gloria Brown led the Miners with 13 points and 11 rebounds, while guards Dietra Caldwell and Kelli Willingham each chipped in 10 points.
Despite being out-rebounded 37-22, the Blazers forced UTEP into 21 turnovers and capitalized for 19 points off the takeaways. UAB also snapped UTEP's nine-game streak of shooting at least 40 percent, holding the Miners to 39 percent shooting. The Blazers shot 43 percent from the field, including a 45 percent clip from beyond the arc.
UAB owned a 26-19 advantage at halftime after a 15-5 run midway through the first half gave the Blazers momentum. The Green and Gold led by as many as 10 in the early frame thanks in part to Peterson's 12 first-half points.
The Blazers stretched the lead to 12 early in the second half after back-to-back buckets by Pratt. But the Miners inched their way back to a five-point deficit thanks to a 7-0 run before Peterson knocked down another triple to answer for UAB.
UAB built the lead back to 14, the largest of the contest, with 8:48 to play. UTEP was able to cut it to five with 48 seconds to play, but it was as close as the Miners would get before UAB earned the six-point win.
The Blazers return home Thursday to host the Tulsa Golden Hurricane for the annual Pink Zone game. The two teams square off at 8 p.m. CT and the game will air on CBS College and CSS.
