The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
UAB
Tulane
Tulane Beats UAB On Boards For 52-41 Win
1/19/2012 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Jan. 19, 2012
NEW ORLEANS -- The UAB women's basketball team suffered its first Conference USA defeat of the season Thursday night with a 52-41 loss to Tulane at Fogelman Arena.
Junior guard Amber Jones scored a team-high 16 points -- 15 in the first half -- but the Blazers (13-4, 4-1 C-USA) had a four-game winning streak snapped and lost for just the second time in their past 14 contests.
Tulane (13-5, 2-3 C-USA) was hungry after losing three of its first four conference games, including two in a row entering Thursday's game. That hunger showed on the glass with the Green Wave winning the majority of loose balls throughout the night and out-rebounding the Blazers by a 39-18 margin.
"We struggled tonight offensively, and sometimes that's going to happen," UAB head coach Audra Smith said. "What I'm disappointed in is I felt like they out-hustled us. They played harder than we did. They were hungrier than we were. They played with a sense of urgency and they deserved to win."
Tulane's Olivia Grayson led all players with 18 points on 6-of-8 shooting and 5-of-6 at the foul line, while Brett Benzio pulled down a game-high 15 rebounds. Benzio was one of three Green Wave players to finish with eight points, joining Danielle Blagg and Adesuwa Ebomwonyi.
UAB's LaShaunda Pratt scored 11 and Karisma Chapman added 10 to give the Blazers three double-figure scorers, but no other player on the team scored more than two points.
UAB managed to survive a first half in which Tulane shot 60 percent and led by as many as 10 points as the Blazers whittled the lead all the way down to two at 27-25 by halftime. Jones carried the Blazers on the offensive end with 15 first-half points, and UAB managed to hold Tulane to just two field goals in the final 6:30 before the break to close the gap.
But the Blazers got off to a cold start again in the second half, and Tulane re-established its double-digit lead. A jumper by Blagg put the Green Wave ahead by 13 -- its largest margin of the night -- at 41-28 with 11:21 to play.
UAB went on a mini run to get within seven points on a layup from Chapman at the 5:29 mark, but Blagg answered on the next possession with a 3-pointer and UAB wasn't able to get any closer than nine points the rest of the way.
The Blazers' defensive pressure created opportunities like it has all season, generating 11 steals and forcing 25 total turnovers by Tulane, but they couldn't convert enough on the offensive end. UAB attempted 14 more shots than Tulane but made two fewer as the Green Wave knocked down 50 percent (19 of 38) for the game, the highest percentage by a UAB opponent since the season opener when Chattanooga shot 52 percent.
The Blazers now return to Birmingham to host Memphis on Sunday at 7:30 p.m. CT in a game that will be televised by Fox Sports Net.
