Rawls, Johnson Lead Blazers Past High Point, 77-61

Sunday, December 3

High Point, N.C.

11:00 A.M.

UAB

6-1

High Point

4-3

UAB

High Point

Rawls, Johnson Lead Blazers Past High Point, 77-61

12/3/2017 2:14:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score Box Score (PDF) Season Stats

HIGH POINT, N.C. – A double-double from Kara Rawls and a perfect shooting outing by Imani Johnson sparked the Blazers' offense as the UAB women's basketball team was able to outrun a pesky High Point squad, 77-61, at the Millis Athletic and Convocation Center on Sunday afternoon.

Rawls matched her career high in total points with 15 and recorded a career-best 12 rebounds en route to her second career double-double, while Johnson netted a career-high 15 points on a perfect 6-for-6 shooting day from the floor.

"I am very proud of the way the team stayed composed and battled against a very good High Point team," head coach Randy Norton said. "We were very good during periods of the game and continue to improve with each game. I believe we learned a lot from this road trip and we are excited to get back home. We want to encourage our fans to come out Thursday as we host a very good Samford team at 6:00 p.m."

Sophomore Rachael Childress finished the game in double figures for the sixth time this season, posting 12 points and hauling in seven rebounds. She was a perfect 6-for-6 from the charity stripe.

Fellow sophomore Miyah Barnes was unselfish in the win, dishing out a career-best nine assists to go along with seven points and five rebounds, while Whytney Singleton, Lea Kerstein and Katelynn Thomas finished the game with six points apiece.

Despite only shooting 29.4 percent from behind the arc, the Blazers dominated inside and outscored the Panthers 38-16 in the paint. UAB also imposed its will on the glass, outrebounding High Point, 44-27.

The Blazers could not have gotten off to a better start, opening the game on a 12-2 run on the back of five-straight points from Rawls. The Green and Gold continued its dominance in the first quarter, finishing the period shooting 52.9 percent and holding a 21-8 advantage after 10 minutes.

High Point found its offensive footing in the second period as it cut the lead to 23-16 at the 6:35 mark of the quarter. However, a 10-2 run by the Blazers over the next four minutes opened a 33-18 advantage for the Green and Gold right before the break.

UAB matched that 15-point advantage at the end of the half, taking a 37-22 lead into the locker room.

The Green and Gold saw its largest lead of the game at the 8:42 mark of the third quarter as Kuzmanic hit two free throws to extend the Blazer lead to 43-24. High Point answered the call, though, using a 12-2 run over four minutes in the third stanza to cut the lead to 45-36.

From there, it was all Blazers as the lead never dipped below double digits again and reached as much as 77-59 late in the fourth quarter before UAB sealed its sixth win of the season at 77-61.

UAB is off to its best start since the 2012-13 campaign when the Green and Gold started 7-1. The win marks the fourth time under Norton that the team has won back-to-back road contests.

The Blazers return to action on Dec. 7 when the team returns to the friendly confines of Bartow Arena to take on cross-town rival Samford at 6 p.m. before hitting the road once again to take on former conference-rival Memphis on Dec. 9 at 3 p.m.

For more information on the UAB women's basketball team follow the Blazers on Twitter (@UAB_WBB), Instagram (UAB_WBBALL) or like them on Facebook (Facebook.com/UABWBB).