UAB Falls to Boise State in Thrilling Shoot-Out

Friday, November 15

Birmingham, Ala.

4:00 p.m.

UAB

1-2

Boise State

3-1

Boise State

UAB

UAB Falls to Boise State in Thrilling Shoot-Out

11/15/2019 9:51:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score

BIRMINGHAM- UAB came up short in an offensive battle in Birmingham, falling to Boise State 83-81 on Friday evening at Bartow Arena.

Miyah Barnes stayed hot for UAB leading all scorers with 23 points with five rebounds, four assists and three steals in the loss to the Broncos.

The two teams started the game trading three-pointers, a trend that would continue throughout the evening. By the 6:41 mark in the first quarter both teams had made three triples with the Blazers a perfect 100 percent from beyond the arc.

UAB (1-2) got out to the early lead thanks to the deep ball as Barnes, Trista Magee and Rachael Childress each knocked down threes in the first 10 minutes of play. Barnes' 3-pointer at the 1:48 mark of the first quarter put the Blazers up 26-15, the largest lead either team would have in the game.

It was Boise State (3-1) who would close the quarter on a 7-2 run to cut the Blazers lead to 28-22 at the end of the first.

The Broncos continued where they left off in the first scoring six unanswered points in the beginning of the second quarter to tie the game at 28.

The second quarter was a back-and-forth battle as each team went on a run, with the Broncos' Mallory McGwire hitting a last second jumper in the paint to put Boise State up 40-38 at halftime.

UAB started the second half on an 11-3 run to reclaim the lead before Boise State came surging back with a run of its own. Both sides caught fire in the third quarter scoring 24 points apiece with Boise State knocking down five three-pointers and UAB hitting four from beyond the arc.

At the 3:42 mark in the third quarter Barnes scored her fifth three of the game to put the Blazers up by two and bring her points total to 20. Riley Lupfer would answer with a three of her own to regain the lead for the Broncos and become Boise State's all-time three-point shooter.

It was Boise State once again that knocked down a shot in the closing seconds of the quarter to take the 64-62 lead going into the final 10 minutes of play.

The fourth quarter mirrored the third as both teams scored 19 points in a back-and-forth battle to the finish. Boise State went on a 7-0 run in the middle of the fourth to put up a nine-point lead with 2:33 remaining in the game. UAB came blazing back with a 7-0 run before Braydey Hodgins made a circus shot to put the Broncos up four with less than a minute to play.

With 19 seconds remaining in the game Childress knocked down her fourth three of the evening to bring UAB within one. The Blazers fouled to send Boise State to the line where Hodgins missed one of her free throws keeping it a three-point game.

With seven seconds remaining and no one open on the perimeter Barnes drove down the lane for a layup to once again bring the game within one 82-81. Hodgins again went 1-2 from the line setting UAB up with the opportunity to have the last shot with four seconds on the clock down 83-81. Barnes drove down the floor and threw up a jumper from 17 feet out that hit off the rim as time expired.

"You have two really outstanding teams playing each other in Boise State and UAB," said head coach Randy Norton. "They have won the Mountain West three years in a row and they were the preseason pick again this year. They have some great players as we do, and we are planning on competing for the Conference USA championship. When you have two teams matched up like that it comes down to attention to details. We know we had some breakdowns defensively that can make a difference in a game like that. All-in-all I saw a lot of positives out there and we will take that and learn from this game."

The game saw nine ties and nine lead changes as both teams traded blows and knocked down a total of 23 threes.

Barnes finished the night shooting 66.7 percent from the field with 23 points and five three pointers for UAB.

"What you see is how Miyah plays," added Norton. "She puts in the time to be a great player; she practically lives in the gym. As a four-year starter for us so nothing surprises me when I watch her. She knocked down some open shots, she made some tough drives to the basket and she is truly one of the best point guards in the country."

Childress and Imani Johnson each put up 16 points of their own with Childress knocking down four threes and Johnson going to the charity stripe eight times.

Magee's 14 points all came in the first quarter as the redshirt senior ran into foul trouble and eventually fouled out in the closing seconds of the game.

Angela Vendrell once again led the team in rebounds grabbing eight boards while also tallying two blocks, five assists and one steal.

Senior Katelynn Thomas saw her first action of the season scoring eight points and grabbing four rebounds in 15 minutes of play.

Boise State also saw four players hit double figures as McGwire led the Broncos with 20 points followed by Hodgins' 19 and Lupfer's 17.

The Blazers outshot their opponent for the third time this season hitting 48.2 percent of their field goals and knocking down 52.2% from three-point range.

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