The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
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Houston
UAB's Defensive Pressure Drops Houston, 67-43
1/15/2012 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Jan. 15, 2012
HOUSTON -- Sophomore forward Karisma Chapman scored 19 points to lead four double-figure scorers for the UAB women's basketball team Sunday afternoon in a 67-43 road win over Houston at Hofheinz Pavilion.
The Blazers (13-3, 4-0 C-USA) turned defense into offense against the Cougars (2-14, 1-3 C-USA), winning for the 12th time in their past 13 outings and matching their best start ever in Conference USA. UAB and UTEP are now the league's only unbeaten teams in conference play.
One game after setting a season-high with 16 steals against UCF, the Blazers topped it by harassing Houston for 19 steals in Sunday's matchup. They forced a total of 24 turnovers and turned them into 30 points on the other end.
"We always talk about our defense facilitating our offense, and that's been our focus since day one," UAB head coach Audra Smith said.
"We went away from our full-court pressure after a couple early fouls and went with our three-quarter court pressure and our matchup zone, and we were able to get our hands in there and get them to turn the ball over. Then we did a very good job in transition, pushing the ball and turning those turnovers into scores."
Chapman and senior guard LaShaunda Pratt each had a career-high six steals to lead the defensive effort, while junior forward Michaelea Kleist had four of the team's seven blocked shots. Over the past two games, UAB has racked up 35 steals and 19 blocks.
After a scoring drought of nearly 10 minutes in the middle of the first half left the Blazers trailing 16-13, UAB closed the half on a 21-6 run and then continued its hot shooting in the second half, connecting on 48 percent of its shots after the break. The Blazers' 42.1 percent effort for the game was their second-best of the season.
UAB opened up a 20-point advantage at 42-22 on a jumper from junior guard Amber Jones three and a half minutes into the second half and pushed its lead to as many as 28 points late in the game on senior center TaRonda Randall's spinning lay-in.
Pratt finished with 14 points, while Kleist scored a UAB career-high 11 to go along with eight rebounds. Jones logged 10 points and dished out a career-best seven assists as the Blazers placed four scorers in double figures for the first time since last season at East Carolina (Jan. 27, 2011).
UAB nearly had a fifth player reach double-digits, but junior guard Kelsie Weynand came up just shy as she matched her UAB career-best with nine points off the bench.
The Blazers have now started 4-0 in Conference USA for just the third time ever, while their 13-3 record overall is tied for the second-best start in program history through 16 games.
UAB will return to action on Thursday with the second of back-to-back C-USA road games, taking on Tulane. Tipoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. CT in New Orleans.
