The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
UAB
Marshall
Long Ball Lifts UAB Over Marshall
2/16/2017 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Final Stats | Photo Gallery 
Score: UAB 71, Marshall 55 Final Box (PDF) l Season Stats
Records: UAB (13-12, 6-8 C-USA), Marshall (12-12, 4-9 C-USA)
Location: Birmingham, Ala. at Bartow Arena (8,500)
UAB Highlights l Postgame Press Conference
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. -- The UAB women's basketball team shot lights out on its way to a 71-55 win over Marshall Thursday night at Bartow Arena. Rachael Childress set a UAB freshman record with seven made 3-pointers as she paced the Blazers offense with 21 points.
UAB HIGHLIGHTS
- Freshman Rachael Childress' connected on seven 3-pointers, totaling 77 made triples this season; her 77 3-pointers ranks fourth in the UAB record books for 3-point field goals made in a single season and she needs three more to move into third place
- Childress' seven 3-pointers is the most by a UAB player since Amanda Peterson made eight 3-pointers against Houston on march 10, 2010
- Childress netted a game-high 21 points to lead the Blazers in scoring for a team-high 12 times and crossed the 20-point mark for the second time in her career; Childress is averaging 15.4 points per game in conference play
- Junior Whytney Singleton dished out a game-high six assists tying her career high for the third time
- Freshman Miyah Barnes tied her career high two 3-pointers for the sixth time in her career; Barnes is shooting a conference high 50 percent (20-of-40) 3-point field goal percentage in league action
- Sophomore Deanna Kuzmanic reeled in a season-high seven rebounds marking the third time she has led the team in rebounding this season
- Junior Kara Rawls tied her career high three blocks for the second time in her career
- Freshman Katelynn Thomas was a perfect 3-of-3 from the field; in her last six games, Thomas is shooting 52.2 percent (12-of-23) from the floor
- Kuzmanic netted 12 points for her 12th double figure game this season and 32nd of her career
- Barnes' four assists tied her conference high for the sixth time; Barnes has dished out four assists in six of her last seven games; she leads the team averaging 3.1 per night
- Senior Janeka Williams reeled in a season-high five rebounds
- Freshman Imani Johnson's three rebounds is her C-USA high
- Singleton played a season-high 26 minutes
- Kuzmanic made her 56th consecutive start, the longest active streak on the team; Junior Keonna Farmer made 25th career start, a career long; Barnes made her 22nd consecutive start, the most by a freshman on the roster
TEAM NOTES
- UAB improves to 13-11 this season and 6-8 in C-USA play
- Head coach Randy Norton improves to 62-56 and 31-33 in conference play
- As a team, the Blazers hit 13 3-pointers, totaling 190 made triples this season; the team's combined 190 3-pointers ranks fifth in the UAB recordbook for 3-point made field goals in a single and season and they need four more to move into fourth place
- The starting lineup of Deanna Kuzmanic, Miyah Barnes, Rachael Childress, Keonna Farmer, and Janeka Williams improves to 6-6
- UAB's 16-point victory is its largest in C-USA play this season; the Blazers are 4-1 this season in games decided by 16 points or more
- The Blazers outscored the Thundering Herd 33-25 in the second half and 16-8 in the fourth quarter; as a team UAB is outscoring its opponents by +91 points in the second half and by +69 points in the fourth quarter alone
- UAB connected on 13 pointers, the most since hitting a UAB record 14 at Manhattan on March 24, 2011
- UAB's bench outscored Marshall's 22-11; the Blazers have outscored their opponents bench 10 times this season and hold a 10-8 record in those games
- The Blazers did not trail at any point in the game for the first time this season in conference play
- The Blazers dished out 21 assists, their most in league play
BREAKING DOWN THE BOX SCORE
- UAB shot 49.1 percent from the floor (27-of-55) and a whopping 54.2 percent from long range (13-of-24)
- Marshall shot 36.2 pcent (21-of-58) from the floor and 27.6 percent from deep (8-of-29)
- Rachael Childress led UAB with 21 points while Deanna Kuzmanic chipped in 12 points
- Marshall had a pair of players in double figures -- led by Kiana Evans' 14 points
- The Blazers dished out 21 assists -- four played accumulated four or more
- Childress shot 50 percent from the floor (7-of-14) and 70 percent from long range (7-of-10)
- The Blazers led for 38 minutes and 34 seconds -- while the game was tied for 1:21
- UAB led Marshall in points in the paint (24-18) and bench points (22-11); Marshall led in points off turnovers (15-13) but each team scored seven second chance buckets and four fast break points
- Each player on UAB recorded two or more rebounds
HOW IT HAPPENED
- UAB took a commanding 17-9 lead over the Thundering Herd, thanks to 15 points from long range (5-of-10) with 3:06 to play in the first and never looked back. At the end of the opening 10, the Blazers held a 22-13 lead, shooting 50 percent (8-of-16) from the floor.
- The Thundering Herd's 13-3 run early in the second quarter cut the lead to one, 27-26, 5:54 to go in the half, but UAB responded with a 9-2 run to add cushion to its lead. The Blazers held an eight-point lead heading into the break.
- In the third, after trading buckets with Marshall, UAB used a 10-0 run to take a 15-points lead, 53-38, with 4:44 on the clock. However, the Herd outscored UAB 9-2 to end, allowing the Blazers to maintain its 55-47.
- In an effort to control the clock, UAB slowed the game down in the fourth, allowing for just 24 points to be scored -- and the Blazers held the 16-8 advantage as they defeated the Herd, 71-55.
QUOTABLE
Head Coach Randy Norton
Opening Statement...
It was a real nice win for us at this time of the season, everybody is jockeying for positions in our conference, but most importantly you want to start playing your best basketball at this time of the season, especially at home. A couple of things that stood out; we really wanted to lock down on defense. Marshall does a really good job of shooting 3-pointers and they had eight in the game but I believe seven came in the first half so we held them to one in second half. And the other stat that stands out is 21 assists for us, I thought we did a great job sharing the basketball. Everybody that played for us contributed. It was just a really nice team win. I'm proud of the girls.
On Rachael Childress having a big game...
She shot the ball extremely well and if she was here, I know I can speak for her, the one thing about Rachael is that she acknowledges her teammates. I felt like all of her kids look for her and they try to get her the ball when she's open, there's an art to that. Whytney (Singleton), Miyah (Barnes), Deanna (Kuzmanic) and Janeka (Williams), in fact the entire team, when she's open they try to get her the ball.
On out rebounding Marshall by 10...
Our team doesn't have a big team, compared to some of the other teams in our league, so it's always got to be a team effort and having all five players boxing out. It's almost like every ball is a loose ball, you have to box somebody out and then run the ball down. I thought rebounding wise it was a great team effort.
Whytney Singleton | Junior | Guard
On what you saw on the floor tonight...
I see the floor really well, that is one of my strong points as a point guard. Coach (Norton) and I were talking on the way down about how when I get assists those are my points and I am always looking for the open player.
On how important it is to defend your home court...
In the conference it's always hard to win on the road so wins at home in really big. You want to get all of the home wins you can because on the road you have to battle. Playing in front of your home crowd, your friends and fans is always a great time.
On how the locker room was after tonight...
It was a winning locker room. Coach says there is a difference between a winning locker room and a losing one and tonight we had a winning locker room.
UP NEXT
UAB wraps up its 2016-17 home slate playing its final game Saturday against Western Kentucky. Tip between the Blazers and Lady Toppers is set for 2 p.m. with a senior day ceremony honoring Janeka Williams.
The Blazers then hit the road for their final three games with the first stop coming at Middle Tennessee on Sunday Feb. 26. Tip between the Blazers and Blue Raiders is slated for 4 p.m. on ASN.
For more information on UAB women's basketball, follow the Blazers on Twitter (@UAB_WBB), Instagram (@UAB_WBBALL)
