The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
Blazers Ready For Bayou Battle With Tulane
1/18/2012 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Jan. 18, 2012
Game Notes 
| Listen Live (UAB Audio) | Watch Live (Tulane Video) | GameTracker
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. -- Continuing to ride one of the best starts in school history, the UAB women's basketball team hits the road again for a Thursday Conference USA matchup at Tulane with a 7 p.m. CT tipoff.
The Blazers (13-3, 4-0 C-USA) are coming off a 24-point road win at Houston and are looking to continue their perfect start to league play. The Green Wave (12-5, 1-3 C-USA) will try to bounce back from an overtime loss to UTEP last weekend.
Game Information
UAB at Tulane
Thursday, Jan. 19 @ 7 p.m. CT
New Orleans, La. (Fogelman Arena)
Live Coverage
Listen Live with an Internet radio broadcast through uabsports.com featuring Reid Adair (play-by-play) and Laura Waldrop (color). Gametracker live stats and Tulane streaming video are also available through uabsports.com.
Series Information
• UAB trails 21-9 in the all-time series against Tulane with 26 of the 30 meetings coming since the formation of Conference USA with the 1995-96 season.
• The Blazers are 4-9 against the Green Wave in 13 previous meetings in New Orleans with their last win at Fogelman Arena coming by a 67-56 decision on Jan. 20, 2008.
• The teams have split the past 10 meetings evenly, but Tulane has won three in a row against UAB.
• Tulane won the only matchup between the teams last season, 81-53 in Birmingham (1/9/11). Tulane's Tiffany Aidoo topped all players with 29 points, while Amber Jones (15) and LaShaunda Pratt (10) led UAB.
About the Blazers
UAB heads to Tulane for its second straight Conference USA road game with wins in 12 of its past 13 contests. The Blazers improved their record to 13-3 and remained perfect in league play at 4-0 with a 67-43 win Sunday at Houston. Karisma Chapman led four double-figure scorers with 19 points against the Cougars.
Chapman leads the Blazers with 14.1 points per game, while Amber Jones (13.6) and LaShaunda Pratt (11.6) are also averaging double figures. Meagan Brown is the team's top rebounder at 6.9 boards per game.
The Blazers continue to hang their hat on defense, ranking third in the nation
in scoring defense (47.1), 16th in blocks per game (5.7) and 17th in field goal percentage defense (33.7 percent). The Blazers have allowed only four opponents all season to score more than 47 points.
Scouting Tulane
Tulane owns a 12-5 record on the season and 1-3 mark in conference play. One of the Green Wave's league losses came by two points at Memphis. Another came in overtime this past Sunday to a UTEP team that is unbeaten in C-USA.
Olivia Grayson leads Tulane in scoring at 14.4 points per game to go along with a team-best 3.2 assists and 2.8 steals. Brett Benzio averages a near double-double with 9.3 points and 9.5 rebounds per contest.
Tulane is averaging 61.8 points per game and holding opponents to 53.0. The Green Wave is out-rebounding its opponents by six per night, while Tulane is both committing and forcing more than 19 turnovers per game.
Getting Started
• UAB is tied for first place in the Conference USA standings as one of only two teams unbeaten in league play, and the Blazers have matched their best-ever C-USA start at 4-0.
• At 13-3 overall, the Blazers have matched the second-best start through 16 games in program history. Only the 1981-82 team (14-2) started better.
• Dating back to last season, UAB has won 17 of its past 20 games and 24 of its past 31 contests.
• Over its past two games, UAB has logged a combined 35 steals and 19 blocked shots (16 steals and a school-record 12 blocks against UCF; 19 steals and seven blocks versus Houston).
• UAB is the top team in Conference USA and third nationally in scoring defense, surrendering just 47.1 points per game for the season. The Blazers also rank 16th in the country in blocks per game (5.7) and 17th in field goal percentage defense (33.7 percent).
• The Blazers have 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 16 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's trio of sophomore forward Karisma Chapman (14.1 ppg), junior guard Amber Jones (13.6 ppg) and senior guard LaShaunda Pratt (11.6 ppg) have accounted for 66.2 percent of the Blazers' scoring with 615 of the team's 929 points on the year.
• The Blazers placed four scorers in double figures Sunday at Houston for the first time this season with Karisma Chapman scoring 19, LaShaunda Pratt 14, Michaelea Kleist 11 and Amber Jones 10. Kelsie Weynand nearly gave UAB a fifth double-digit scorer but finished with nine.
• 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 961.
• 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. UAB held opponents to an average of 41.4 points and 31.4 percent shooting during the streak.
• The Blazers lead Conference USA with 5.8 made 3-pointers per game. The team fell just shy of a school record with 13 treys in its game earlier this season at UNCG (12/6). Amber Jones and LaShaunda Pratt combined to shoot 10-for-12 from beyond the arc in that game.
Fast Start
With a 13-3 record so far, UAB has matched the second-best start in program history and is off to its best start in 17 years. The 1981-82 Blazer team had the best start ever through 16 games with a 14-2 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 13-3 mark.
At 4-0 in league play, UAB has also tied its best-ever start in Conference USA, joining the 2006-07 and 2009-10 teams.
Dominating Defense
Coming off one of the best defensive seasons in Conference USA history, UAB has been even stingier so far this year. The Blazers have surrendered just 47.13 points per contest and rank third in the nation in scoring defense in the latest NCAA statistics (1/16).
UAB has held 12 of its 16 opponents to 47 points or fewer and kept four -- Western Kentucky, Hampton, Clemson and East Carolina -- below 40 points. The 36 points scored Nov. 26 by Western Kentucky and Dec. 30 by Clemson matched the fewest allowed by the Blazers since the 1994-95 season.
Historic Numbers
UAB is on pace to break its own Conference USA record for scoring defense by a large margin. Last season, the Blazers set a school and league record by allowing just 55.3 points per game, good for 25th-best in the nation. Their 56.1 points allowed per game in conference play also set a league record.
This year, UAB is allowing only 47.1 points per game (third in the nation), and the Blazers have allowed their four conference opponents an average of just 45.2 points per contest.
SWAT Team
UAB set a single-game school record with 12 blocked shots in the Jan. 12 win over UCF. The Blazers topped the previous best mark of 11, set in last season's home victory over Tulsa (2/10/11).
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.
The Blazers added seven blocked shots in Sunday's win at Houston, giving them 19 over the past two games.
Block Party
The top shot-blocking team in Conference USA, the Blazers are swatting 5.7 shots per game (17th-best in the nation) and 8.0 per game through four conference contests. UAB is more than two blocks per game ahead of school record pace (3.4 per game in 1998-99). Last year's team is second in school annals with 3.3 blocks per contest.
Three Blazers this season are averaging more than one block per game, led by Michaelea Kleist at 1.5. Meagan Brown is averaging 1.3, and TaRonda Randall checks in at 1.2.
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 58 more points over the past five contests and now has 961 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.
Jones Picks Up Where She Left Off
Junior guard Amber Jones continues to be one of the top scoring threats for UAB, ranking second on the team with an average of 13.6 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 37.3 (22-for-59), which ranks fifth in Conference USA.
Doing Damage From Downtown
UAB averages 5.8 3-pointers per game as a team to rank first in Conference USA, while senior guard LaShaunda Pratt ranks second in the league individually with 2.2 treys per contest. The Blazers knocked down 13 in a single contest against UNCG (12/6), including six by Pratt.
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 Long Range
Senior guard LaShaunda Pratt ranks second in Conference USA with 2.2 made 3-pointers per game and is now shooting 34.0 percent (35 of 103) from 3-point range for the year.
Coming into the season, Pratt had never made more than three 3-pointers in a game. Through 156games 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 McNeese State (11/19) and topped that at UNCG (12/6) when she hit a career-best six 3-pointers in just seven attempts.
Chapman On A Roll
Sophomore forward Karisma Chapman has upped her scoring average over the past eight games. The Calumet City, Ill., product has averaged 15.8 points over that period, led UAB in scoring in six of the eight games and scored at least 19 points in four of them.
Chapman is now averaging 14.1 points per game for the season to lead the Blazers. She has scored in double figures in every game but three, including a career-best 24 points against both Alabama A&M (12/15) and Florida A&M (1/2).
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 14.1 points, 5.2 rebounds and 2.4 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.
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 Cincinnati on March 9, 1995. On four other occasions, UAB has limited an opponent to 12 points in a single half.
Kleist's Contributions
Junior forward Michaelea Kleist, who came off the bench for the first three games, has now started 13 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 leads the team in blocks with 1.5 per game and ranks second in rebounds with 5.8 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 off 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 96 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).
Good Guard Play
UAB's trio of primary ballhandlers -- Khalilah Watson, Amber Jones and LaShaunda Pratt -- has combined for a positive assist-to-turnover ratio (123 assists, 111 turnovers) this year.
Jones (46 assists, 42 turnovers) and Watson (44 assists, 32 turnovers) have both made strides this year after posting more turnovers than assists a season ago. For much of the season, Watson has been ranked among the best in Conference USA in assist-to-turnover ratio.
