The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
UAB
Florida Atlantic
Florida Atlantic Tops UAB Women's Basketball, 66-56
1/8/2015 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Final Stats | Box Score 
BOCA RATON, Fla. - After trailing by as many as 19 points in the first half, the UAB women's basketball team pulled within seven with a minute to play but could not overcome the deficit as Florida Atlantic held on for a 66-56 win Thursday night.
"I think the stats really speak for themselves," head coach Randy Norton said. "We gave up 41 points in the first half. We are just not putting together two halves right now. We have been coming out of the gates slow and we didn't shoot the ball well enough. We held them to 25 points in the second half, really 18 because we had to foul. If we had played defense like we did in the second half that is a game we could have pulled out."
UAB (6-7, 0-2 C-USA) suffered a seven-minute scoring drought that allowed Florida Atlantic (8-5, 2-0 C-USA) to go on a 13-0 run in the first half. The Blazers came back to shoot 41.4 percent in the second half to out-score the Owls, 32-25.
Two players finished in double figures for UAB. Senior Janae Smith led the team with 13 points and junior Chelsee Black finished with 12. Junior Kayla Anderson added nine points off the bench.
Defensively, UAB was out-rebounded 40-32. Smith, Black and Anderson each tied for a team-high five rebounds. The Blazers finished with a season-high eight blocks on the night. Smith had three and junior Bianca Dufelmeier picked up a career-high three blocks.
After falling behind early in the first half, UAB fought back to trail by one three times. The Blazers were down, 20-18, when Florida Atlantic began its run that included 11 points from Shaneese Bailey. Bailey posted 23 points in the first half and finished with a game-high 29 points.
Smith knocked down two free throws at the 3:37 mark to halt the Owls' run and cut it to, 34-20. However, Florida Atlantic would stretch its lead to 19, 39-20, with 1:58 remaining in the half.
Junior Lauren McGraw put in a layup after picking up a steal and Black added a jumper with eight seconds to go to send UAB into the half down, 41-24.
The Blazers came out strong in the second period as Smith put in a layup with just 15 seconds off the clock. Smith added another layup followed by a 3-point play from Anderson as the Blazers made it, 43-31, with 15:11 on the clock.
Florida Atlantic had two-straight baskets but senior Miranda Burroughs nailed a 3-pointer and Smith connected on a layup to cut the lead to, 47-36. The Owls were back up by 16 when UAB made its surge with an 8-0 run that would cut the lead to single digits, 55-47, with 2:41 remaining.
Burroughs hit a 3-pointer from the wing to bring UAB within its closest margin, 59-52, since the eight-minute mark in the first half. Once again, Florida Atlantic answered and extended its lead back to 10, forcing the Blazers to foul. The Owls held on for the 66-56 win.
"They have to decide they want to play a 40-minute game," Norton remarked. "I believe in them, our staff believes in them. We think we have a really good basketball team, but you have to be able to do it between the lines. Right now, we are just not playing consistent for the whole game."
UAB will remain on the road as it travels to take on FIU on Sunday afternoon. The game is scheduled to tip off at 12 p.m. ET/11 a.m. CT and will air on Fox SportSouth.
For the latest news on Blazer sports, follow the UAB Athletics Twitter account: @UABathletics. For women's basketball news, follow @UAB_WBB.
