The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
Barnes, Childress Named to All-Conference USA Freshman Team
3/5/2017 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
IRVING, Texas – UAB women’s basketball freshmen Miyah Barnes and Rachael Childress were named to the All-Conference USA Freshmen Team, the league office announced Sunday. The duo accounts for over 30 percent of the Blazers scoring this season.
“Miyah and Rachael have really embraced their roles for our team this season,” head coach Randy Norton said. “Both are high character student-athletes and are great representatives of our program in all facet of their lives. Neither of them were starters at the beginning of the season, but earned everything they have gotten. They both live in the gym and one of the first to arrive and last to leave the court every day.”
Barnes, a 5-foot-5 guard from Memphis, Tenn., was a two-time C-USA Freshman of the Week. Barnes averages a team-best 3.2 assists per game while adding 9.8 points per game. She ranks second in conference-only action in 3-point field goal percentage. Barnes has led UAB in points three times and has dished out a team-best assists in 11 games. She has tallied 15 games with three or more assists, including f our games with more than five.
“We have high expectations for our point guards and Miyah took that challenge and ran with it,” Norton said of Barnes. “Not only did she come in and play a lot of minutes from the start, she became our starting point guard and leader on the team. Miyah’s future is bright because she is a gym rat and wants to be great. Whatever we ask her to do, she does and I’m incredibly proud of her.”
Earlier this season, Barnes paced the UAB offense with 20 points against NCAA participant Belmont, and was named to the Maggie Dixon Classic All-Tournament Team, after scoring 20 points against No. 21 DePaul. Barnes also made the highlight reel as she was ESPN’s No. 4 top play on #SCTop10 after draining a half court shot.
Childress, a 5-foot-10 forward from Moulton, Ala., was named Conference USA’s Freshman of the Week a league-high four times. Childress averages 12.6 points per contest and 3.7 rebounds. In league-only play, Childress averages 14.0 points and 4.3 boards. Nationally, she leads all freshmen in 3-pointers per game (3.2), 11th overall, and ranks fourth in her percentage beyond the arc.
“Great players step up and Rachael has done that all year for us,” Norton said of Childress. “I’m really proud of her and all of her accomplishments this season. Her hard work and dedication is shown every day. She shows up ready to put in the time and work needed – and her performance on the court is a testament to that. She is a great ambassador for our program, not only on the court, but in the classroom and in the community.”
Among the conference’s freshmen, she leads in points, 3-pointers per game and 3-point field goal percentage. In the C-USA record books, she currently ranks first in 3-pointer per game in league-only play (3.9) and is second in 3-pointer per game in a single season (3.2), both freshmen records.
In the UAB records, she is second in 3-pointers in a single season. Childress has paced the Blazers offense in 13 games, scored 10+ points in 18 contests and has tallied 11 games with 15 or more points. She set a career-high 22 points against UTEP, the most points scored by a freshman in C-USA this season.
Childress and Barnes join eight other Blazers named to the All-Freshman team in program history and are the first UAB freshmen to be named to the All-Conference Freshman Team since Deanna Kuzmanic, last season.
Through Barnes and Childress’ 29 games, they’ve led UAB in points per game 16 times, and assists per game 13 times as well. The duo has also totaled 28 games in double figures and 14 games with 15 points or more.
ALL CONFERENCE USA FRESHMAN TEAM
Alexis Gordon, FIU
Ashley Saintegene, Marshall
Shonte Hailes, Southern Miss
Miyah Barnes, UAB
Rachael Childress, UAB
CONFERENCE USA TOURNAMENT
The Blazers are slated to return to the court for the Conference USA Tournament first round games on Wednesday, March 8 at 12:30 p.m. UAB will face North Texas at Bartow Arena.
Single session tickets are available online or at the Bartow Arena Box Office Monday morning and are $10 per day for Wednesday and Thursday. Tickets for the semifinals and finals, held at Legacy Arena on Friday and Saturday, are $20 per session.
All session tickets, which include the men’s games, are still available through UABSports.com, or through the Bartow Arena Ticket Office.
For more information on UAB women's basketball, follow the Blazers on Twitter (@UAB_WBB), Instagram (@UAB_WBBALL) and Facebook (UAB Women's Basketball).
