The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
UAB
Loyola Chicago
UAB Battles Past Loyola, 61-51
11/25/2014 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
CHICAGO, Ill. - Three players scored in double figures, with two recording double-doubles to lead the UAB women's basketball team to a 61-51 win over Loyola on Tuesday night in Chicago, Ill.
"It is a great win for our program to win on the road here at Loyola," head coach Randy Norton said. "This is a hard place to play. I knew we were not shooting well, but to able to win a game by 10 points and shoot 29 percent shows how solid our defense is. We dominated the boards. We had 18 offensive rebounds to their five and 53-30 overall."
UAB improved to 3-1 on the season with its third consecutive win and first road win of the season, while Loyola dropped to 1-3 overall. Despite shooting just 29.8 percent on the game, the Blazers found other ways to score as they finished 20-of-28 (71.4 percent) from the free throw line.
For the second-straight game, the Blazers out-rebounded their opponent finishing with 53 rebounds to just 30 for Loyola. The Blazers were all over the boards, grabbing 18 offensive rebounds and 35 defensive boards.
Senior Janae Smith led all players with 20 points in front of her hometown. Smith recorded the first double-double of her UAB career with 12 rebounds. Junior Dy'man Webb finished with a double-double as well, posting 12 points and adding 11 rebounds. Junior Miranda Burroughs hit four 3-pointers to finish with 12 points on the night.
"I am really happy for Janae Smith, being from Chicago and playing in front of her family," Norton said. "She finished with a double-double, I thought she just played really well. Dy'Man (Webb) also had a great game finishing with a double-double. She really hustled for us tonight."
"Chelsee (Black) didn't have a lot of points, but she finished with six points, six rebounds, four assists, three steals and played 39 minutes," Norton remarked. "She was just a floor-general on the court tonight. She holds everything together for us and really proud of the leadership she displayed."
UAB opened the game strong, scoring the first 13 points of the contest. Loyola didn't hit a basket until the 14:26 mark in the first half. However, the Ramblers used an 8-0 run to cut the lead to five, 15-10. The Blazers responded with a jumper by Smith before a six-minute dry spell.
Junior Brittany Winborne hit both free throws from the line to make it 19-14, but Another run by the Ramblers gave Loyola its first lead of the game, 23-19. Smith hit a 3-pointer with 1:36 to go to pull within one until a basket at the end of the half gave Loyola a 25-22.
In the second half, UAB opened with the first three points to tie it up 25-25. Loyola went back ahead until a 3-pointer by Bianca Dufelmeier tied the game at 33-33 and sparked an 8-0 run by the Blazers to take a 38-33 lead.
Both teams had a two minute scoring drought until Burroughs hit her third 3-pointer of the game to give UAB a 43-39 lead with 9:46 remaining. The Blazers then hit a flurry of shots from the free throw line, making 24 trips to the line in the second half.
Webb and Burroughs combined for seven-straight points and Smith connected on two free throws to give UAB its largest lead, 58-43, with 4:52 to play. Loyola cut the lead back to seven, but big rebounds put to the ball back in UAB's hands as the team held on for a 61-51 victory.
UAB will have a couple of days off before it heads to Los Angeles for the DoubleTree Los Angeles Westside Thanksgiving Classic. The Blazers will play tournament-host Loyola Marymount on Friday at 5;30 p.m. CT then play either UC Irvine or Bowling Green on Saturday.
For the latest news on Blazer sports, follow the UAB Athletics Twitter account: @UABathletics. For women's basketball news, follow @UAB_WBB.
