Women's Basketball Tops Tulsa, 76-65

Wednesday, January 15

Tulsa, Okla.

7:00 PM

UAB

Tulsa

Sophomore Kayla Anderson finished with a season-best 11 points in the win.

Women's Basketball Tops Tulsa, 76-65

1/15/2014 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball

Jan. 15, 2014

Box Score | Box Score

TULSA, Okla. - Four different players reached double-digits as the UAB women's basketball team defeated Tulsa, 76-65, on Wednesday night. The Blazers grabbed their second consecutive Conference USA road win.

"I think that was the best 40 minutes we have played as a team all season long," said head coach Randy Norton. "I am really proud of our girls, coming in here and getting a big win on the road. I feel like our team is getting better every day."

UAB (10-6, 2-1 C-USA) never trailed Tulsa (7-7, 1-2 C-USA) and led by as many as 22 points in the game. The Blazers shot 44.8 percent from the field and 34.5 percent behind the arc.

Senior Karisma Chapman recorded her third-straight double-double and sixth of the season, finishing with 16 points and 10 rebounds. Sophomore Chelsee Black added 16 points, including four three-pointers. Senior Ashley Grimes had 15 points and sophomore Kayla Anderson tallied 11 points.

The Blazers opened the game with a 10-2 run led by Anderson's two quick layups in the first minute of play. The Golden Hurricane rallied to pull within two, 12-10, at the 15:17 mark but both teams would go on a scoring drought until Chapman hit a layup with 12:26 to go.

Junior Miranda Burroughs then sunk a three to spark a 10-1 run by the Blazers that gave them a 24-13 lead with seven minutes left in the half. UAB would continue to expand on its lead in the remainder of the half, taking a 40-25 lead into the break.

At halftime, UAB had outrebounded Tulsa 28-19, including 20 defensive boards. Eight different players brought down a rebound as sophomore Brittany Winborne led the team with six in the first half.

Tulsa battled back in the second half with a 9-2 run to cut the lead to nine, 51-42, at the 11:56 mark but Black netted a key three to swing the momentum back into UAB's favor.

The Blazers would not relinquish their double-digit lead for the rest of the game. Black hit back-to-back three-pointers to put UAB up 19. Then a three by sophomore Schenia Battle gave the team its largest lead, 76-54, with 1:48 left in the game.

The Golden Hurricane scored the final 12 points of the game, but could not overcome UAB's lead. Ashley Clark led Tulsa with 20 points on the night and Liesl Spoerl added 11.

"The score was deceiving," remarked Norton. "Because when we took our starters out we were up by 22 points so it was a dominant performance. It was a great opportunity for our bench to play against their starters."

Even with the win, Norton knows that there are still areas that the team can improve on as conference play continues.

"We still gave up 22 offensive rebounds, so we need to improve on that and box out better. Also, we need to continue to take care of the ball. We had 22 turnovers and our goal is 12. Overall, I am really proud of them. It was 40 minutes of our best basketball this season."

UAB will return home to host Middle Tennessee this Saturday, January 18 in Bartow Arena. The game will tip off at 4 p.m. CT and will be the first game of a double-header with the UAB men's basketball team.

For the latest news on Blazer sports, follow the UAB Athletics Twitter account: @UABathletics. For women's basketball news, follow @UAB_WBB.