The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
UAB
Manhattan
UAB's 3-Point Barrage Crushes Manhattan, 62-43
3/24/2011 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
March 24, 2011
RIVERDALE, N.Y. -- The UAB women's basketball team knocked down 14 3-pointers, tying a school record, en route to a 62-43 win over the Manhattan Jaspers in the semifinals of the Women's Basketball Invitational (WBI) on Thursday night at Draddy Gymnasium. The Blazers, the East No. 2 seed, will host West No. 3 seed Cal State Bakersfield in the WBI championship on Sunday. The two teams will tip off at 3 p.m. CT at Bartow Arena.
The win marks the 100th of UAB head coach Audra Smith's career. Smith has spent all seven years of her head coaching career at the helm of the Blazers.
"I'm excited about it, but it's really a tribute to my assistant coaches and the players that have been through this program," head coach Audra Smith said of the milestone. "They're the ones that have put in the work and executed the things that I've asked them to do on the floor. It's a phenomenal accomplishment and I'm glad that it's happening now as we're on our way to compete for a championship."
The Blazers' 14 treys match the record set by the 2009 squad against Tulsa on Feb. 12, 2009. Senior guard Amanda Peterson led the barrage with seven treys for a game-high 21 points, while sophomore guard Amber Jones scored 19 points, including five treys, which tied her career high.
"We knew it would be difficult to penetrate and get to the basket against Manhattan," Smith said. "Amanda and Amber were just ready to knock down shots. Amanda was on fire and confident within herself, along with Amber. We did a terrific job, especially in the first half, of maintaining our composure, finding the openings and looking for our shooters within our offensive set."
Freshman forward Karisma Chapman nearly notched a double-double for the Blazers (19-15), scoring 12 points and adding nine rebounds. Chapman also chipped in four steals in the contest. Freshman forward Destiny Samuels matched Chapman's rebounding performance, tying her career-high with nine rebounds as well.
For Manhattan (24-10), Lindsey Loutsenhizer led the way with 16 points and seven rebounds, while Monica Roder scored 10 points and had seven boards.
The two teams battled back and forth early in the contest, as the Jaspers earned their largest lead of the game at 17-13 with 12:08 to go in the first half. Chapman knocked down a layup to cut Manhattan's lead to two and Jones drained a triple with 8:10 to play in the early stanza to give the Blazers a one-point lead. It's a lead UAB wouldn't relinquish the rest of the game.
UAB led, 32-24, at halftime before busting open the lead with a 13-0 run to open the second half. Samuels opened the second stanza with a pair of free throws before the Blazers knocked down three straight treys top open up a 19-point lead. The Blazer defense held the Jaspers to just 19 points in the second half en route to the 19-point victory.
