The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
Women's Basketball Opens C-USA Play At Home Sunday
1/3/2015 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Middle Tennessee (6-4, 0-0 C-USA) vs. UAB (6-5, 0-0 C-USA)
Sunday, Jan. 4, 2015 at 2 p.m. CT
Birmingham, Ala. – Bartow Arena
Coverage: Live Stats | Listen Free | Watch
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – The UAB women’s basketball team will open Conference USA play at home as it hosts Middle Tennessee on Sunday. The Blazers and Blue Raiders are set to tip off at 2 p.m. CT in Bartow Arena.
UAB (6-5, 0-0 C-USA) is in its final game of a four-game home stand, currently 2-1 after dropping its first game at Bartow to Richmond, 71-65, in overtime. Immediately following Sunday’s game, all children 8th grade and younger are encouraged to stay for the UAB Women’s Basketball Youth Clinic Presented by Alabama Power.
The clinic is scheduled to run for approximately an hour and will be free and open to the public. Participants will have a chance to go through shooting drills, dribbling drills, fun games and much more with members of the women’s basketball team. There will also be a special question and answer session with the players and the coaches.
For the latest news on Blazer sports, follow the UAB Athletics Twitter account: @UABathletics. For women's basketball news, follow @UAB_WBB.
Blazer Bits
- UAB will begin league play against reigning C-USA Champion Middle Tennessee. The Blazers and Blue Raiders met three times last season, with Middle Tennessee edging UAB in all three contests.
- This will be the 10th meeting between the two teams, the last time UAB defeated Middle Tennessee was at home in the 2005-06 season.
- The Blazers are in their final game of a four-game home stand. UAB is 2-1 in that stretch and is 4-1 overall at Bartow this season.
- Senior Janae Smith is averaging 17.8 points per game to lead UAB this season. She has played particularly well at home, improving to 22.2 points per game.
- Senior Miranda Burroughs has been hot from behind the 3-point line this season, boasting a .456 average (26-of-57). She hit four-straight against Richmond and finished 4-of-6 in that game. Burroughs has made three or more 3-pointers in the last three games.
UAB Notes
Series
Sunday will mark the 10th meeting all-time between UAB and Middle Tennessee. The Blazers and Blue Raiders met three times in 2013-14, after not having played since 2005. Middle Tennessee has won the last three meetings, including a quarterfinal matchup in the C-USA tournament last season.
Scouting the Blue Raiders
Middle Tennessee (6-4, 0-0 C-USA) is the reigning Conference USA Champion after winning both the regular season and tournament titles in its first season in C-USA. The Blue Raiders have won two-straight coming into Sunday’s contest. They recently topped Tennessee Tech, 98-76. Olivia Jones leads MT and C-USA with 19.4 points per game and ranks first in the league in minutes played (36.8/game). Jones also leads the Blue Raiders with 9.5 rebounds per game.
Smith Approaching 1,000 Career Points
Senior Janae Smith is just one point shy of 1,000 for her career. Smith totaled 803 points, 327 points at College of Charleston and 476 at Illinois State, prior to UAB. This season she has amassed 196 points to give her 999 points in her career.
Send Them To Then Line
UAB is third in C-USA in free throw percentage shooting 72.5 percent from the line. Four players are averaging over 80 percent from the line. Junior Chelsee Black and senior Janae Smith rank first and second individually in the league. Black is hitting 90.0 percent from the line, 36-of-40. She finished 9-of-10 in UAB’s overtime loss to Richmond on Tuesday. Smith is second with 86.3 percent, connecting on 44-of-51.
