Blazers Kick Off Conference USA Play with 74-61 Win over Old Dominion

Thursday, January 4

Norfolk, Va.

6:00 P.M.

UAB

12-2, 1-0

Old Dominion

2-12, 0-1

UAB

Old Dominion

Blazers Kick Off Conference USA Play with 74-61 Win over Old Dominion

1/4/2018 9:51:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score Box Score (PDF) Season Stats

NORFOLK, Va. – Paced by a career-high 24 points from sophomore Miyah Barnes, the UAB women's basketball team kicked off the new year in style as it took down Old Dominion, 74-61, in its Conference USA opener on Thursday evening.

The Blazers (12-2, 1-0) have now won five-straight contests for the first time since winning five in-a-row from Dec. 3, 2015 to Dec. 21, 2015. It is also the second-straight game that the Blazers have had at least four players score in double figures after seeing five players with 10 or more points against Tuskegee on Dec. 30, 2017.

"I am really proud of us getting a win on the road," head coach Randy Norton said. "It is always difficult in Conference USA to get a win on the road. It was really difficult environment with the snow storm. There was not much of a crowd, so we had to create our own energy. The only thing I would like to see us do better is put teams away when we have that opportunity. Again, that is a sign of being young, but I think they are getting better at that. Overall, I was still pleased with the win."

Barnes' 24 points came from a lights-out shooting performance as she was 8-for-12 from the floor and 3-for-5 from long range. Her impressive night also included a game-high nine assists, matching her career best assist total which she set at High Point earlier this season. She leads the team in that category with 68 assists on the year.

Sophomore Trista Magee was huge for the Blazers off the bench as she poured in a career-high 16 points and brought down five rebounds. Rachael Childress finished the game with 11 points, while Deanna Kuzmanic added 10 points on 3-for-4 shooting from the floor as well as a perfect 4-for-4 night at the charity stripe.

Kara Rawls led the way for the Blazers on the glass, bringing down a team-leading nine rebounds on top of contributing two steals, two points and a block. Katelynn Thomas posted three blocks in the win, matching a career-high which she set against Alabama A&M on Dec. 17, 2017. She finished the game with six points.

UAB's defense was stout all night as it finished the game with seven blocks and forced Old Dominion into 13 turnovers which it then turned into 17 points compared to the Monarchs' seven points off turnovers. The Blazers also proved why they are one of the best 3-point shooting teams in the nation as they drained 50 percent (10-for-20) of their shots from behind the arc in the victory.

Old Dominion was led by freshman Victoria Morris who finished the game 19 points, as well as MaKayla Timmons and Odegua Oigbokie who added in 17 points and 14 points, respectively.

Both teams got off to a sluggish start to open the game before the Monarchs who took a 7-2 lead less than three minutes in. The Blazers found their footing over the next three minutes of the opening quarter, using an 8-1 run to take its first lead of the game at 10-8 at the 4:37 mark.

Despite allowing four points to end the quarter to cut the lead to 17-14, UAB stormed out of the gate in the second period on the back of an 11-0 run to take its first double-digit lead of the game at 28-14. Shooting 53.8 percent in the quarter, the Blazers held steady and took a 41-27 advantage into the locker room.

The third quarter saw more of the same from the Blazers as a Childress 3-pointer at the 7:39 mark opened a 48-27 lead for the Green and Gold.

However, the Monarchs were not going to go away easy as they mounted a furious comeback over the last two minutes of the third quarter and the opening minutes of the fourth quarter to cut the Blazer lead to 57-48.

With the momentum on the verge swinging towards the home team, Barnes took over and scored 10 points to spark a 12-0 run to extend the lead to 69-48 with 4:50 to play. That run ultimately sealed the deal for UAB as the Blazers rode out the clock to earn the 73-51 victory.

The Blazers close out their two-game conference road trip on Saturday as the Green and Gold head to Murfreesboro to take on Middle Tennessee in the Charles M. Murphy Center. Tipoff for the game is set for 6 p.m. CST and will be broadcast live on CUSA.tv.

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).