Balanced Attack Guides UAB to 69-51 Win Over North Texas

Thursday, March 1

Denton, Texas

5:00 P.M.

UAB

23-5 (12-3)

North Texas

15-12 (6-9)

UAB

North Texas

Balanced Attack Guides UAB to 69-51 Win Over North Texas

3/1/2018 9:33:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score Box Score (PDF) Season Stats

DENTON, Texas – Heading into Thursday's clash with North Texas, head coach Randy Norton preached that he wanted the team to get back to playing UAB basketball, a message that was well received as the Blazers used a balanced attack and stout defense to topple the Mean Green, 69-51, in the Super Pit.

UAB (23-5, 12-3) earned its 10^th road win of the season, the most victories away from home in program history, while its 12 conference wins on the year are tied for the most in program history. The Green and Gold is now one win shy of matching the program record for the most wins in a season (24).

"I am just really proud of our team," Norton said. "North Texas has a great basketball team. They had been playing really well coming into tonight's game. The girls just came in and locked up defensively. I felt like our game plan was great and they stuck to it. It was an outstanding team win."

Four Blazers found themselves in double figures on Thursday, paced by Rachael Childress' 16 points on 3-for-7 shooting from deep. Childress has now led the team in scoring 10 times this season.

Senior Kara Rawls and sophomore Angela Vendrell were both outstanding in the win, as Rawls fell one rebound short of her fifth double-double of the year with 13 points and nine rebounds. Vendrell was just three blocks and four boards shy of a triple-double, finishing the game with 10 points, six rebounds and seven blocks.

Vendrell's shot-stopping effort against North Texas tied the school record for the most blocks in a single game with Michaelea Kleist, who posted seven blocks at SMU on Feb. 7, 2013.

Sophomore Miyah Barnes finished the game with 10 points and a game-high five assists, while fellow second-year player Katelynn Thomas added nine points and three rebounds off the bench.

North Texas (15-12, 6-9) was led by Terriell Bradley's 11 points and six rebounds. Brittany Smith (10) also finished in double figures for the Mean Green.

It was all UAB at the beginning of the game, rattling off seven quick points in the opening 2:42 of the game. The Blazers finished the period on a 21-12 run, shooting 53.3 percent (8-for-15) from the field, while holding North Texas to 26.7 percent (4-for-15) shooting.

With a comfortable lead heading into the second quarter, the Blazers opened a 29-12 lead at the 7:26 mark of the half following a 15-foot jumper from Rawls. All things seemed to be going the Green and Gold's way until a 13-5 run by North Texas to close out the half cut the lead to 34-25 heading into the locker room.

The third quarter went back-and-forth, with the Blazers' lead hovering right around 10 points for most of the quarter. It was not until the final six seconds of the third period that Barnes put home two free throws to give UAB a 50-38 advantage with 10 minutes to play.

In the opening four minutes of the final stanza, UAB jumped out to a 11-4 run to put itself in prime position for victory. The team's largest lead came with 3:00 minutes to play when Barnes knocked down a jumper to put the Green and Gold up 66-46.

From there, it was smooth sailing as the Blazers buckled down and claimed its 23^rd win of the season, 69-51.

UAB returns to action on Saturday when the Blazers travel to San Antonio to take on the UTSA Roadrunners. The game is slated to tip at 2 p.m. and will be televised 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).