The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
Blazers Pay Visit To Houston In C-USA Action
1/14/2012 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Jan. 14, 2012
Game Notes 
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The Blazers (12-3, 3-0 C-
Game Information
UAB at
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Series Information
• UAB trails by a narrow, 11-10 margin in the all-time series with
• The Blazers last defeated
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• The Cougars defeated the Blazers by a 74-65 score last year in
About the Blazers
UAB will look to continue its perfect start to conference play with the first of back-to-back C-USA road games when it visits
The UAB lineup features three double-figure scorers in junior guard Amber Jones (13.9 points per game), sophomore forward Karisma Chapman (13.8) and senior guard LaShaunda Pratt (11.4). Senior center Meagan Brown is the team's top rebounder at 6.9 boards per game.
The Blazers continue to rank fourth in the country in scoring defense (47.4 points per game) and have moved up to 20th nationally in field goal percentage defense (33.7 percent) and 19th in blocks per game (5.6).
Scouting
Roxana Button is the only
Getting Started
• At 12-3, the Blazers have matched the second-best start through 15 games in program history. Only the 1981-82 team (14-1) started better.
• Dating back to last season, UAB has won 16 of its past 19 games and 23 of its past 30 contests.
• UAB is the top team in Conference
• UAB has held an opponent to fewer than 40 points in a game 12 times in program history, and four of those instances -- more than any other season -- have occurred through just 15 games this year.
• UAB held Rice to 11 first-half points in the Jan. 5 victory over the Owls, matching the fewest points ever surrendered by the Blazers in one half.
• UAB set a school record with 12 blocked shots Thursday in the victory over UCF. That topped the Blazers' 11 blocks last year against
• UAB's trio of junior guard Amber Jones (13.9 ppg), sophomore forward Karisma Chapman (13.8 ppg) and senior guard LaShaunda Pratt (11.4 ppg) have accounted for 66.4 percent of the Blazers' scoring with 572 of the team's 862 points on the year.
• Amber Jones is closing in on the 1,000-point mark for her career. She surpassed 900 points Dec. 30 at Clemson and now sits at 951.
• Karisma Chapman scored 24 points and Amber Jones had 23 in the Jan. 2 loss at Florida A&M. It was the first time two UAB players scored at least 20 points in a game since March 9, 2010 against SMU in the C-USA tournament when Jones scored 23 points and Tamika Dukes had 21.
• UAB put an eight-game winning streak together from Nov. 25-Dec. 30. It was UAB's longest winning streak in 17 years and just the sixth streak of at least eight games in program history.
• During its eight-game winning streak, UAB held opponents to an average of 41.4 points and 31.4 percent shooting. Not one of the eight opponents scored more than 47 points or made more than 38 percent of its shots.
• The Blazers lead Conference
Fast Start
With a 12-3 record so far, UAB is off to one of its best starts in program history. Only once has a UAB team posted a better record through 15 games than the current Blazer squad.
The 1981-82 Blazer team had the best start ever through 15 games with a 14-1 mark. This year's team has matched the second-best start in program history, tying the 1979-80, 1991-92 and 1994-95 teams with its 12-3 mark.
SWAT Team
UAB set a single-game school record with 12 blocked shots in Thursday's win over UCF. The Blazers topped the previous best mark of 12, set in last season's home victory over
Meagan Brown had four of those blocks, including the record breaker with 1:50 to play. Karisma Chapman and LaShaunda Pratt had three each, while Michaelea Kleist and TaRonda Randall added one apiece.
Dominating Defense
Coming off one of the best defensive seasons in Conference
UAB has held 11 of its 15 opponents to 47 points or fewer and kept four -- Western Kentucky, Hampton, Clemson and
Last season, the Blazers' 55.3 points allowed per game set a school record and broke the Conference USA record by a full point. UAB's 56.1 points allowed in C-USA games also set a league record. The Blazers finished the season ranked 25th in the nation in scoring defense.
New Mark For Defense In A Half
UAB matched the program record for fewest points allowed in a half Jan. 5 against Rice, limiting the Owls to just 11 points over the opening 20 minutes.
The Blazers also surrendered only 11 points in a half against
Chasing 1,000
With 17 points in the Dec. 30 win at Clemson, junior guard Amber Jones surpassed the 900-point mark for her career.
Jones has added 48 more points over the past four contests and now has 951 points, closing in on the 1,000-point milestone. She is seeking to become the 25th 1,000-point scorer in program history and the 13th to accomplish the feat before her senior season.
Block Party
The Blazers finished just shy of the school record for single-season blocked shots last year but have been even better in the blocks category this year. UAB's 3.3 blocked shots per game last season were the second-most in school history, but so far this year the Blazers are averaging 5.6 blocks per contest (ranking 19th nationally). The school record for blocks per game in a season is 3.4, set during the 1998-99 campaign. UAB is 2.2 blocks per game ahead of that school-record pace.
Three Blazers this season are averaging more than one block per game: Michaelea Kleist (1.3), TaRonda Randall (1.3) and Meagan Brown (1.3).
Chapman On A Roll
Sophomore forward Karisma Chapman has upped her scoring average over the past seven games. The
Chapman is now averaging 13.8 points per game for the season, just behind Amber Jones (13.9 ppg) for the team lead. She has scored in double figures in every game but three, including a career-best 24 points twice against both Alabama A&M (12/15) and Florida A&M (1/2).
Jones Picks Up Where She Left Off
Junior guard Amber Jones continues to be one of the top scoring threats for UAB, leading the Blazers with an average of 13.9 points per game. She has led UAB in scoring seven times, including Dec. 6 at UNCG when she erupted for a career-high 25 points on 8-of-12 shooting and 4-of-5 from 3-point range.
Jones is the leading returning scorer for UAB after averaging 12.5 points per game last year as a sophomore. She developed into the Blazers' top scorer down the stretch in 2010-11, raising her average to 15.3 points per game over the final 13 contests and 17.5 over the final six.
Jones Draining 3's At High Rate
Amber Jones has shown vast improvement from 3-point range this season. She entered her junior year with 72 treys over her first two seasons but was just a 27.7 percent shooter from beyond the arc for her career.
This season, Jones' 3-point percentage has jumped all the way to 38.2 (21-for-55), which ranks fifth in Conference
Doing Damage From Downtown
UAB averages 5.8 3-pointers per game as a team to rank first in Conference
Last season, UAB topped C-USA in 3-pointers per game, as well. The Blazers averaged a league-leading 6.2 treys per contest, knocking down a total of 216 for the season, the second-most in UAB history and just three shy of the 2006-07 school-record total of 219. Graduated guard Amanda Peterson set a school and C-USA record with 103 treys a year ago.
Pratt From
Coming into the season, Pratt had never made more than three 3-pointers in a game. Through 15 games this year, she has already surpassed that twice.
Pratt hit five treys on her way to a career-best 24 points earlier this season at
Kleist's Contributions
Junior forward Michaelea Kleist, who came off the bench for the first three games, has now started 12 contests in a row.
Kleist, a transfer from Volunteer State CC, has proven to be a defensive presence and one of the team's top rebounders. She is tied for the team lead in blocks with 1.3 per game and ranks second on the team in rebounds with 5.7 per outing.
Kleist's five blocked shots against UNCG (12/6) are the most by a UAB player this season.
Brown's Blocks
Meagan Brown is coming of a 2010-11 campaign in which she set the school record for single-season blocked shots with 49. For her career, the senior center owns 94 blocks to rank third on the Blazers' all-time list, trailing only the 125 by Deanna Jackson (1998-2002) and the 108 of Mary Morning (1993-97).
Frosh Sensation Now Super Soph
Sophomore forward Karisma Chapman is continuing to develop after a 2010-11 season in which she was a C-USA All-Freshman Team selection. Chapman is averaging 13.8 points, 5.0 rebounds and 2.2 steals per game. She logged her third career double-double with 11 points and 11 rebounds at UNCG.
Last year, Chapman finished the year with 10 double-digit scoring performances in the last 17 games. She averaged 10.8 points per game over that stretch and closed the year with an average of 8.0 points to go along with a pair of double-doubles in her rookie campaign.
Taking Care Of The Basketball
UAB has been among the nation's best at taking care of the basketball. The Blazers were in the top 10 in the nation in fewest turnovers per game early this season but have dropped to No. 31 (14.8 per game) after averaging nearly 18 giveaways per game over their past six contests.
UAB recorded 10 or fewer turnovers four times in its first six games of the season, including just six in the season opener against
The six turnovers against Chattanooga were the second-fewest by a UAB team in head coach Audra Smith's eight-year tenure at the school and the fewest turnovers for the Blazers since they gave the ball away just five times against Tulsa on Feb. 12, 2009.
Forcing Turnovers
After forcing double-digit turnovers in all 35 games last year, UAB has caused at least 10 turnovers in every game this season, including 28 against
The Blazers have currently forced their opponents into double-digit turnovers in 138 straight games. The last time a UAB opponent turned the ball over fewer than 10 times was
This season, UAB has created 74 more turnovers than the opposition (296-222). Last year, the Blazers forced 115 more turnovers than they committed (644-529).
Earning Second Chances
Through 15 games this season, UAB has snagged 236 offensive rebounds (15.7 per game) compared to 157 (11.6 per game) for its opponents. The Blazers have posted double-digit offensive boards in every game but one and reached 20 offensive rebounds three times -- 23 against Alabama A&M (12/15), 22 at Clemson (12/30) and 20 at
Senior center Meagan Brown has logged a team-high 43 offensive boards, while sophomore forward Karisma Chapman has snagged more than half of her rebounds (39 of 75) on the offensive glass.
Getting More Shots
UAB's prowess at forcing turnovers and grabbing offensive rebounds has led to more scoring opportunities for the Blazers. Through 15 games, UAB has attempted 116 more shots (843-727) than its opponents for an average of 7.7 more attempts per game. The Blazers attempted more shots than eight of their first nine opponents but have managed fewer attempts than their opponents in four of their past six games.
