Williams' Career Night Not Enough, UAB Falls at Southern Miss

Saturday, January 28

Hattiesburg, Miss.

4:00 PM

UAB

Southern Miss

Williams paced UAB offense with 17 points.

Williams' Career Night Not Enough, UAB Falls at Southern Miss

1/28/2017 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball

Jan. 28, 2017

Final Stats

Score: Southern Miss 65, UAB 59 Final Box (PDF) l Season Stats
Records: UAB (10-10, 3-6 C-USA), Southern Miss (13-8, 5-4)
Location: Reed Green Coliseum
Series Record: Southern Miss leads 39-22, Norton vs. USM: 3-4

HATTIESBURG, Miss. – The UAB women’s basketball team couldn’t hold off the Southern Miss Lady Eagles comeback on Saturday afternoon as the Blazers fell to USM 64-59 at Reed Green Coliseum. Senior Janeka Williams paced the Blazers offense with a career-high 17 points.  

HOW IT HAPPENED

The Blazers’ came out of the gates shooting 9-of-12 (75.0 percent) from the floor, allowing them to lead 21-9 to start the contest. However, a 7-0 Southern Miss run cut the UAB lead to five, 21-16, with XX to go in the quarter. Free throws by Katelynn Thomas earned UAB a 24-16 lead at the end of the opening 10 minutes.
The Lady Eagles opened the second quarter on an 8-2 run to trail by two, 26-24, with 7:04 time to play. UAB held the Lady Eagles scoreless for over three minutes to go on its own 5-0 run to lead 31-24 with 4:01 to go in the half. After trading buckets, UAB led 40-33 at the midway point.
Southern Miss knotted the game at 40-all with 8:02 to play in the third, but UAB was able to hold onto the lead at the end of the third quarter, 51-47.
In the fourth quarter, the Lady Eagles’ 6-1 start allowed them to take a 53-52 lead with 6:43 to play, USM’s first lead of the game. The Blazers were unable to get closer than one for the final six minutes of play as the Lady Eagles won, 64-59.

INDIVIDUAL NOTES

Senior Janeka Williams and freshman Katelynn Thomas poured in career-high points (Williams 17, Thomas 13)
Williams connected on a career-best six field goals, tied her season-high in attempts with eight, swiped a season best two steals and played a season high 26 minutes
Thomas hit a career high five field goals, attempted a career high six field goals, netted a career-best three free throws and attempted a career high six free throws
Thomas and Williams perfect 4-of-4 from the field in the first half
Freshman Miyah Barnes’ four assists ties her conference play high (four at LA Tech, Jan. 26)
Sophomore Deanna Kuzmanic swiped three steals for the fourth time in league play this season
Kuzmanic made her 51st consecutive start, the longest active streak on the team; Junior Keonna Farmer made 20th career start, a career long; Barnes made her 17th consecutive start, the most by a freshman on the roster

TEAM NOTES

UAB moves to 10-10 this season and 3-6 in C-USA play
Head coach Randy Norton drops to 59-54 and 28-31 in conference play
The starting lineup of Deanna Kuzmanic, Miyah Barnes, Rachael Childress, Keonna Farmer, and Janeka Williams drops to 3-4; all four loses coming on the road in conference play
The Blazers have played in eight games decided by two possessions or less this season, six coming in conference play
UAB drops to 8-4 this season and 1-4 in conference play when leading at halftime
The Blazers’ bench outscored the Lady Eagle bench 23-19; UAB is 7-7 when outscoring the opposing team’s bench this season
UAB forced 13 turnovers, a season best
UAB’s 24 points in the first quarter marks a season high
The Blazers eight points in the fourth quarter is the fewest scored in conference action this season
Today’s loss is the Blazers’ first regular season loss to the Lady Eagles since losing 44-39 on Feb. 7, 2015

BREAKING DOWN THE BOX SCORE

UAB shot 66.7 percent (16-of-24) in the first half, but a mere 20.8 percent in the second (5-of-24)
UAB outscored USM in second chance points (10-6) and bench points (23-19), but the Lady Eagles led in points in the paint (28-24), points off turnovers (23-17) and fast break points (8-2)
USM’s Jayla King and Brittanny Dinkins shot a combined 14-of-26 (53.8 percent) from the floor; the duo totaled 36 of USM’s 64 points
Katelynn Thomas and Janeka Williams shot 11-of-14 from the floor (78.6 percent) from the floor for 30 of UAB’s 59 points
UAB committed 21 turnovers while USM totaled 17 turnovers; the Blazers forced 13 of the turnovers
UAB’s four other starters (without Williams’ 17 points) combined for 19 points

UP NEXT
UAB returns to Bartow Arena to take on UTEP Thursday night at 7 p.m. before hosting UTSA on Saturday at 2 p.m.  

For more information on UAB women's basketball, follow the Blazers on Twitter (@UAB_WBB), Instagram (@UAB_WBBALL)