The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
UAB
Southern Miss
Chapman's 25 Key Comeback Win Over Southern Miss
1/29/2012 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Jan. 29, 2012
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. -- Sophomore forward Karisma Chapman poured in a career-high 25 points Sunday afternoon, helping the UAB women's basketball team to a 65-59 win over Southern Miss at Bartow Arena.
The Blazers (15-5, 6-2 C-USA) overcame some hot shooting by Southern Miss (6-15, 0-8 C-USA) and a 19-point first-half deficit to protect their home floor as the Conference USA schedule reached the halfway mark.
Amber Jones added 14 points, LaShaunda Pratt scored 11 and Michaelea Kleist had 10 for UAB as the Blazers placed four scorers in double figures for the second time this season. Kleist also grabbed a game-high 10 rebounds on the way to her first-ever double-double at UAB.
Nitesha Pierce paced Southern Miss with 20 points, and Jamierra Faulkner -- ranked third in the nation in assists -- dished out a game-high eight helpers.
"Watching Southern Miss on film, we knew they were going to be a handful," UAB head coach Audra Smith said. "Their record may have said they were 0-7 (in conference play), but they're not an 0-7 team.
"We were blessed enough to come back and fight and win this game, but we just can't spot a team 19 points. It takes so much energy to fight back. We have to work on our mental approach to the game and come out ready to play every night."
The Golden Eagles stormed out of the gate, knocking down 11 of their first 12 shots from the floor and building a 28-9 lead just over 12 minutes into the game. Southern Miss, with Faulkner running the show, was getting out in transition and finding openings in the Blazer defense for layups.
UAB was able to make a run near the end of the half to cut into the lead, but the Golden Eagles still went to the locker room with a 35-24 advantage after a 72 percent shooting performance in the opening 20 minutes.
The Blazers tightened things up in the second half, committing just four turnovers after 10 in the opening half, and the off-the-charts shooting from Southern Miss came back to Earth as UAB chipped away at the lead.
Jones' second 3-pointer of the half brought the Blazers even at 50-50 with 4:40 to play, and a pair of Chapman free throws less than a minute later gave UAB a 52-50 lead, its first since the score was 4-2.
A jumper from Faulkner brought Southern Miss even one last time at 52-52, but Chapman responded immediately with a driving lay-in and the Blazers salted the game away at the free throw line.
UAB connected on 20 of 24 free throws in the second half, including 11 of 13 over the final four minutes, and led by as many as nine before a 3-pointer from Faulkner on the last possession of the game.
The Blazers turned Southern Miss over 20 times on the afternoon and out-rebounded the Golden Eagles 40-28, including 23-7 on the offensive glass, to help them offset USM's 50 percent shooting effort for the game. UAB shot just 32.2 percent but managed 15 more attempts from the floor and 15 more foul shots than Southern Miss.
The Blazers are now off for a week before returning to action next Sunday with a road contest at Marshall. Tipoff is scheduled for 1 p.m. ET at the Cam Henderson Center in Huntington, W. Va.
