The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
Women's Basketball Welcomes North Texas Thursday
2/11/2015 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
UAB (12-10, 6-5 C-USA) vs. North Texas (3-18, 2-8 C-USA)
Thursday, Feb. 12 at 7 p.m. CT
Birmingham, Ala. - Bartow Arena
Coverage: Live Stats | Listen Free | Watch
UAB Notes
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - In a four-way tie for fifth place, the UAB women's basketball team looks to separate itself from the pack as the Blazers welcome North Texas on Thursday night. The game is set to tip off at 7 p.m. CT inside Bartow Arena.
Fans can listen to the game free on UABsports.com with Laura Waldrop (play-by-play) and Holly Berry (color analyst) on the call. A live stream will also be available on UABsports.com for all-access subscribers.
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 is looking for its first win in the short series with North Texas in just the fourth meeting. The two teams have only met three times, with the Mean Green winning all three previous meetings. Last season, UAB and North Texas met in Denton, Texas with the Mean Green taking the win, 66-58. This will be the first time the teams will play in Bartow since 2009.
- Thursday's game will feature two of the top defenses in Conference USA. The Blazers are leading C-USA holding opponents to just 57.9 points per game on the season. North Texas ranks fourth in the league with a 59.7 scoring defense. Most recently, UAB held Southern Miss to its lowest score of the season allowing just 44 points.
- The Blazers have been one of the top 3-point shooting teams among the league this season, ranking second in C-USA with a .355 3-point field goal percentage. UAB is also second with 6.3 three-point field goals per game. North Texas is second in C-USA in 3-point field goal percentage defense allowing just a .274 percentage.
- Senior Janae Smith leads UAB and ranks fourth in C-USA with 17.8 points per game. Smith has scored over 20 points in seven games this season, including four-straight. The Matteson, Ill. native has led UAB in scoring in 15 games this season.
- With seven games remaining on the schedule, UAB is currently in a four-way tie for fifth place and a win out of fourth. The Blazers have won five of their last seven games heading into this weekend's home games. UAB will host North Texas and Rice, both of which are tied for 12th.
Notes
Series
This will be just the fourth meeting all-time between UAB and North Texas. The two teams first met in 1999-2000 season. The Mean Green has won all three previous contests in the series. Last season, the teams played on Feb. 2, 2014, with North Texas taking the win, 66-58. The only other meeting at Bartow Arena came on Nov. 28, 2009, when North Texas topped UAB, 76-63.
Scouting the Mean Green
North Texas (3-18, 2-8 C-USA) is coming off a win over Marshall, 45-42, on Saturday. Briesha Wynn leads the team with 11.4 points per game and 6.7 rebounds per game on the season. Wynn also has a team-high 33 steals, while BreAnna Dawkins leads the team with 50 assists.
Last Time Out
UAB finished 1-1 in Conference USA action last week as the Blazers topped Louisiana Tech, 63-54, before falling to Southern Miss, 44-39. It was a defensive battle against the Lady Eagles as both teams were held to their lowest scores of the season. UAB came out strong shooting 55.8 percent in the first half and taking a 31-22 lead into the half, but the Blazers struggled from the field shooting just 11.8 percent in the second half to fall to Southern Miss, 44-39.
Singleton Playing Well
Freshman Whytney Singleton has scored in each of the last six games and has increased her playing time to over 14 minutes in those games. Most recently, Singleton played a career-high 27 minutes against Southern Miss. The Mobile, Ala. native scored a career-best eight points and added five rebounds. Singleton has also hit a 3-pointer in all six of those contests and has hit two in a game twice.
Blazers Finding Rotation
UAB has used the same starting lineup in its last nine games and is 6-3 during that span. The five are junior guard Chelsee Black, senior guard Miranda Burroughs, sophomore guard Janeka Williams, junior forward Kayla Anderson and senior forward Janae Smith. During those games the Blazers are averaging 59.2 points per game and holding opponents to 52.4 points per game. The team is also shooting .417 percent from the field and nine players are averaging over 10 minutes per game.
