UAB Fends Off Rice’s Late Rally for 70-63 Win

Thursday, February 15

Birmingham, Ala.

6:00 P.M.

UAB

21-3, 10-1

Rice

18-5, 8-3

RICE

UAB

UAB Fends Off Rice’s Late Rally for 70-63 Win

2/15/2018 9:56:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score Box Score (PDF) Season Stats

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – The UAB women's basketball team showed its maturity late in Thursday night's game against Rice, holding off a furious Owl comeback late in the fourth quarter to secure a 70-63 victory over the Owls in Bartow Arena.

UAB (21-3, 11-1) has now won seven-straight games, matching its largest winning streak of the season and its largest conference-only winning streak since the 1993-94 campaign. The victory also equaled the most home wins under head coach Randy Norton (11), while pulling the Blazers within three games the program record for most wins (24) in a single season.

"When you are trying to win a championship and you are playing one of the other top teams in the league, it is going to be a tough, hard-fought game," Norton said. "The thing I love about this team is they just find a way to win. I am really proud of them."

Sophomore Miyah Barnes was a handful on Thursday night, scoring 18 points on 7-for-12 shooting from the field and 3-for-5 shooting from long range. Barnes has now led the team in scoring four times this season and has eclipsed the 15-point mark six times.

Fellow sophomore Rachael Childress found herself in early foul trouble, but could not be slowed down as she added 17 points of her own on 50 percent shooting from both the field (5-for-10) and from deep (3-for-6). Katelynn Thomas, earning her sixth start of the season, was the only other Blazer in double figures with 10 points and six rebounds.

Deanna Kuzmanic had an incredible night, scoring nine points and hauling in six rebounds, while dishing out a game-high six assists and nabbing four steals. Angela Vendrell dished out four assists of her own and added three points.

Off the bench, Lea Kerstein finished with a career-high eight points, while Imani Johnson added five points, three of which came from just her fourth made 3-pointer of the season, and six rebounds.

UAB was effective on defense tonight, forcing 14 Rice turnovers and turning them into 11 points. The Blazers also held the 19^th-best 3-point shooting team in the NCAA to just 16.7 percent (3-for-18) behind the arc.

Rice's Erica Ogwumike led a quartet of Owl players in double figures with 15 points and 11 rebounds.

It was Rice who jumped out early, streaking to a 10-4 advantage at the 6:08 mark before the Blazers rattled off three-straight layups to tie the game at 10 points apiece. All signs pointed to a tie game at the end of the first, but Ogwumike had other plans, knocking down a jumper as time expired to put the visitors up 18-16 through 10 minutes.

Things took a turn for the worse for UAB midway through the second quarter, finding itself down 31-23 with 3:19 to play before halftime. The Blazers had other plans, though, as a Kerstein triple sparked a 13-2 run over the final 3:09 of the first half to give the Green and Gold a 36-33 lead at the break.

The Owls came out firing in the second half, scoring six-straight points to cut the Blazer lead to 38-37 before a 9-2 run, which included Kerstein's second 3-pointer of the night, pushed the advantage to double digits for the first time at 50-39.

Ogwumike again ruined a good close to the quarter, converting a layup with three seconds to remaining in the period to cut the Blazer lead to 53-46 with one period to play.

Barnes gave UAB its largest lead of the evening in the fourth stanza, putting the Blazers up 64-52 with 4:49 remaining in the game. Things got interesting in the final 1:31, though, as clutch shooting saw Rice cut the lead to 66-63 with 16 seconds to play.

However, Childress, with ice running through her veins, stepped up to free throw line four times in the final 10 seconds of the game and buried all four to seal the 70-63 victory.

UAB returns to action on Saturday as the Green and Gold welcome Charlotte to Bartow Arena for a 2 p.m. CST tip. The Blazers will celebrate its annual Breast Cancer Awareness Day and are encouraging all fans in attendance to wear pink.

Single game tickets for all four of the Blazers' remaining home games are currently on sale and can be purchased online or by calling the UAB Ticket Office at 205-975-8221. Fans can also purchase a Gold Card for admission to women's basketball games.

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).