The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
Sunday, February 4
Ruston, La.
2:00 P.M.
UAB
at
Louisiana Tech
Blazers Set for Sunday Clash at Louisiana Tech
2/3/2018 5:35:00β―PM | Women's Basketball
RUSTON, La. β Coming off an exhilarating win over UTEP to jump start a third-game road trip, the UAB women's basketball team puts its four-game winning streak on the line on Sunday as it travels to Ruston, Louisiana to take on Louisiana Tech.
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The Blazers are an impressive 7-1 on the road this season, the most road wins by the team since the 2011-12 season and the most under head coach Randy Norton. Friday's victory over UTEP also matched the most wins for the program with Norton at the helm at 18.
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"I am very pleased with our win at UTEP," Norton said. "They have a great team and are well coached. Most importantly, I liked the way our team responded to some adversity being down eight points and coming back to win by 20. LA Tech is a very good team and they are extremely difficult to play on their home court. I feel like the girls learned a lot after the UTEP game and are eager to build on the momentum from Thursday night."
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UAB put on an electrifying performance on Friday night, defeating UTEP 84-64 on the back of a 30-12 fourth quarter effort from the Blazers. The team shot lights out from behind the arc against the Miners, connecting on a school-record 17 3-pointers in the game, toppling the previous record of 14 set on March 24, 2011 against Manhattan.
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Sophomore Rachael Childress led the charge for the Blazers' offense, finishing the game with 26 points. Childress did the majority of her damage from behind the 3-point line, knocking down a career-high eight 3-pointers in the win.
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Deanna Kuzmanic and sophomore Trista Magee were the only other Blazers in double figures with 19 points and 14 points, respectively.
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Childress continues to be UAB's top offense threat, leading the team in scoring with an average of 14.7 points per game. Kuzmanic is currently averaging 13. 1 points per contest, while Miyah Barnes comes in with 11.2 points per game.
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The team boasts two of the most unselfish players in the league in Kuzmanic and Barnes with Kuzmanic leading the conference in assist/turnover ratio at 2.9 and Barnes leading the team with 107 assists this season, 19 shy of cracking into the top-10 for most assists in a single season. As a unit, the Blazers have the NCAA's fourth-best assist/turnover ratio (1.5) and are averaging the 10th-most assists per game in the nation (18.7).
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Thursday's record-breaking efforts from deep also saw the Blazers move back into second in the nation in 3-point field goal percentage at 41.7 percent behind Oregon State (42.0%).
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Louisiana Tech has won two of its last three contests with its most recent win an impressive 66-49 road triumph against preseason favorites Middle Tennessee. The Lady Techsters were led by Kierra Anthony's 20 points.
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Anthony and Alexus Malone pace the Lady Techsters' offense as both are averaging 13.0 points per game, while Taylor Stahly averages 11.5 points per game of her own.
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The two teams will meet for just the sixth time on Sunday with UAB leading the all-time series, 3-2. The Lady Techsters won the latest meeting between the two schools, a 64-63 victory in Ruston.
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Sunday's game will be broadcast live on CUSA.tv, with live stats available at latechsports.com.
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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).
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Players Mentioned
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/ Women's Basketball
Forward
/ Women's Basketball
Guard
/ Women's Basketball
Guard
/ Women's BasketballThursday, June 11
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