UAB Eyes Win No. 20 at Marshall

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – Winners of three-straight road games and five-straight overall, the UAB women's basketball team puts the finishing touches on a three-game road trip on Saturday when it travels to Huntington, West Virginia, to take on Marshall at noon (CST).

UAB (19-3, 8-1) is eyeing its 20th win of the season, which would give the Blazers their first 20-win season since the 2010-11 campaign and their ninth in program history.

"Marshall has been playing very well as of late and just like any other game, we will focus on the things we can control," head coach Randy Norton said. "The only things we can control every single day are effort, positive attitude, energy, focus and attention to details. We approach every game the same and that is to play UAB basketball to the best of our ability."

The Blazers are coming off a successful weekend with wins over UTEP (84-64) on Feb. 2 and Louisiana Tech (66-61) on Feb. 4. The Green and Gold's commanding 20-point victory over the Miners also had record-breaking implications as the team's 17-made 3-pointers toppled the school record for most made triples in a single game.

Sophomore Rachael Childress provided a career-high eight 3-point baskets in the win as part of a 26-point evening before tallying 11 points to close out the weekend at LA Tech. Her efforts earned her C-USA Player of the Week honors as well as National Player of the Week honors as a member of the NCAA Starting Five.

Childress has paced the Blazer offense since the first game of the season, contributing 14.5 points per game. The majority of her damage continues to come from long range as she leads the league and is ranked ninth in the NCAA in 3-point field goal percentage (46.0).

Deanna Kuzmanic and Miyah Barnes continue to be key factors in the Blazers' attack, joining Childress in double figures averaging 13.1 points and 11.3 points, respectively. The duo has also been extremely efficient passing the ball as they are tied for the league lead in assist/turnover ratio at 2.5.

UAB continues to rank in the top-10 nationally in both 3-point field goal percentage (41.2) and assist/turnover ratio (1.5), coming in a No. 2 and No. 6, respectively, in those categories. The team is also steadily rising in the RPI, checking in at No. 71 in the most recent rankings.

Marshall (7-16, 1-9) is currently riding a three-game losing streak with its most recent defeat a 72-59 loss to UTSA on Thursday evening. Shayna Gore led all scorers in the defeat with 29 points, while Talequia Hamilton added 11 points.

Gore and Hamilton are the team leaders in scoring, with Gore averaging 19.7 points per game and Hamilton contributing 14.6 points per game. Hamilton is also the team's top rebounding threat with 7.0 rebounds per game.

The two teams will take the hardwood for the 27^th time with the all-time series knotted up at 13 games apiece. UAB is 5-7 all-time in Huntington with its last win coming on Jan. 11, 2014. The two programs most recently met on Feb. 16, 2017, a game which the Blazers won by a final score of 71-55 in Bartow Arena.

Saturday's contest against Marshall will be broadcast live on CUSA.tv, with live stats provided courtesy of herdzone.com.

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).

UAB Eyes Win No. 20 at Marshall

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Miyah Barnes

Rachael Childress

Deanna Kuzmanic

The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics