The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
UAB
WKU
UAB Streak Snapped as Blazers Fall to WKU
1/28/2016 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Jan. 28, 2016
Final Box
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - The UAB women's basketball team's fight never faltered, but in the end WKU escaped Bartow Arena with a 63-49 win over the Blazers. Brittany Winborne earned her 10th career double-double while freshman guard Deanna Kuzmanic's led UAB with a team-best 18 points.
"First of all congrats to Western Kentucky, they have a heck of a basketball team" head coach Randy Norton said. "We gave up 63 points, but I felt like our girls guarded hard. We didn't give them any open shots - they were contested.
Winborne cleaned up the glass Thursday night as she reeled in a game-best 13 boards, including five of the Blazers' 10 offensive rebounds. She chipped in 10 points while Kuzmanic poured in 16 first half points on her way to 18. The Wheeling, Ill., native, who ranks third in triples per game among all freshmen, shot 5-of-9 from long range Thursday, which tied a career-high. Meanwhile, Bianca Dufelmeier dished out a career-high seven assists.
"We played as hard as we possibly could," Norton added. "They made shots and we didn't make shots and that is going to happen. Western Kentucky is one of the top teams in our league. I know our girls fought to the end and I think that there are a lot of positives in store for this team, especially if they continue to bring that effort night in and night out."
UAB (10-8, 3-5) fell behind early in the first half as WKU took advantage of a three minute scoring drought by the Blazers. The drought allowed the Lady Toppers to jump out to a 16-7 lead, due to a 10-2 run with 3:02 to play in the first. The Lady Toppers came out of the gates shooting 62.5 percent.
UAB did not go down easy. The Blazers worked their way back on a 9-2 run, spanning over the final minutes of the first quarter into the second, which cut the lead to one as they trailed 23-22 with 6:58 to go in the half.
Kuzmanic gave UAB its second lead of the night, 28-27, with 1:56 to play in the second quarter as she drained a 3-pointer. UAB went into the break with a slight 31-29 advantage as it was shooting 46.2 percent (12-of-26), thanks to a 6-of-12 showing from downtown.
Coming out of the midway point, the Blazers and Lady Toppers traded baskets as they fought tooth and nail for the edge. A 9-0 run by WKU gave the Lady Toppers a 40-33 lead. Kara Rawls, who added seven points, halted the run with a jumper, however it did not slow down WKU. The Lady Toppers extended their lead as they went on a 7-1 run to lead by 11, 47-36, heading into the final quarter.
Winborne scored seven straight points for UAB to open the fourth quarter, however WKU's leading scorer on the night with 25 points, Tashia Brown, consistently had an answer.
WKU put the game away with a 9-2 run to close out the night.
WKU (17-2, 8-0) remained unscathed in C-USA play, and extended its win streak to 15. Brown shot 10-of-15 from the floor to lead the attack, while Kendall Noble shot 7-of-15 on her way to 19 points. Ivy Brown rounded out the trio of double-figure scorers with 11 points.
UAB shot 34.6 percent (18-of-52) on the night. The Blazers were just 6-of-26 from the floor in the second half. The UAB bench outscored the Lady Toppers 10-6 in thanks to Rawls and Whytney Singleton.
The Blazers are now 7-1 at home this year. UAB's 14-game regular season home win streak was snapped.
The Blazers return to the court on Saturday for a afternoon matinee matchup with Marshall. Tip between UAB and the Herd is set for 2 p.m.
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