The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
UAB
UCF
Cold Shooting Dooms UAB In 41-39 Loss At UCF
2/12/2012 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Feb. 12, 2012
ORLANDO -- The UAB women's basketball team found points tough to come by down the stretch Sunday afternoon in a 41-39 loss at UCF.
The Blazers (17-6, 8-3 C-USA), which led for the majority of the second half, connected on just 4 of 27 shots and scored 11 points over the final 20 minutes as UCF (11-12, 6-5 C-USA) snatched away their bid for a fifth straight win.
Junior guard Amber Jones scored nine of the Blazers' second-half points and finished with 15 on the day to lead all scorers. Erika Jones (10 points, 14 rebounds) and Aisha Patrick (12 points, 10 rebounds) each had double-doubles for UCF.
The Knights, which didn't hit a 3-pointer in the game, made a point of driving the ball into the lane. They scored 24 of their points in the paint and managed to get to the free throw line for 24 attempts, though they made just 11 of them.
The Blazers were whistled for 21 fouls in the contest to eight for UCF. UAB starting center Meagan Brown played just 10 minutes because of foul trouble and forward Michaelea Kleist missed a stretch of the second half for the same reason, further aiding the Knights' inside game. UCF out-rebounded the Blazers, 41-34.
Still, UAB had a chance to win on its final possession thanks to missed UCF free throws down the stretch. Karisma Chapman rebounded UCF's missed lay-in with eight seconds left, but UAB struggled to get the ball up the court and had to settle for a contested LaShaunda Pratt 3-pointer from 25 feet that came up just short as time expired.
"We played well enough on the defensive end to win this game, but we just couldn't buy a shot in the second half," UAB head coach Audra Smith said. "UCF defended us well and had a good plan on offense of attacking the basket. Even so, we had a really good chance to get another conference road win today, but it slipped away."
UAB grabbed control of the game with a 10-3 run late in the first half. After turning eight UCF turnovers into just three points through the first 16 minutes, UAB converted three Knight giveaways into eight points in the last four minutes and took a 28-22 lead into the locker room.
The Blazers led by as many as seven points mid-way through the second half, but UCF clawed back to get within two at 39-37 on a Kayli Keough jumper with 5:08 to play. That was the last field goal either team made.
A pair of Patrick free throws on UCF's next possession tied the game, and two more Patrick free throws over the next two minutes accounted for the rest of the scoring.
UCF made only 6 of 25 shots in the second half, but the Knights turned the ball over just four times after the break and UAB wasn't able to convert any of them into points.
Kelsie Weynand finished with six points for the Blazers, knocking down 2 of 3 shots from 3-point range, while Pratt added five for UAB. Chapman and Michaelea Kleist each grabbed a team-high seven rebounds.
UAB now returns to Birmingham for two games in a row. The Blazers will host SMU on Thursday at 7 p.m. and Marshall on Sunday at 2 p.m. in the team's "Play 4Kay" game for breast cancer awareness.
