The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
UAB
21-5, 9-4
WKU
14-13, 8-5
UAB Wins Second-Straight Home Contest With 70-63 Victory Over WKU
2/16/2019 5:49:00 PM | Women's Basketball
BIRMINGHAM - The UAB women's basketball team claimed its second consecutive home victory on Saturday afternoon with a 70-63 victory over WKU.
UAB improves to 21-5 overall and 9-4 in league play, entering the day in a four-way tie in the Conference USA standings.
"That was an extremely fun game to coach," head coach Randy Norton said. "I thought our kids played hard. They competed against a WKU team that has such a great offense and is difficult to guard. We challenged our kids to guard hard for 40 minutes, if they made a shot, they made a shot. We weren't going to get deflated. Offensively, we ran, tried to keep the game up-tempo and wear them out as the game went on. It's really nice to see the last two fourth quarters. They've been good for us. We're wearing teams out. I thought our kids showed toughness down the stretch. They made free throws, some clutch shots and it was a great team win."
Miyah Barnes led the way in points for the Blazers with 19, while also dishing out six assists. The performance marks the 15th game of the season that junior has recorded double-figure points.
Senior guard Deanna Kuzmanic poured in 17 points and pulled down five rebounds, while Rachael Childress rounded out the Blazers with double-figure points, recording 14 with four 3-pointers.
Kuzmanic scored the first five points of the game for UAB to take a 5-2 lead early. The Green and Gold took a 13-6 advantage into the first quarter media timeout following a 3-pointer from Angela Vendrell. The Lady Toppers finished the quarter on an 11-0 run to take a 17-16 advantage into the second period.
The squads traded buckets to open the second quarter before Vendrell knocked down another triple to give UAB a 23-20 lead. WKU fought back to tie the game at 29 following the second quarter media timeout. Lea Kerstein converted a fast-break layup to tie the score at 31 with 2:20 to play until halftime. Barnes knocked down a pair of free throws with 56 seconds until intermission, tying the score at 33 heading into the break.
Barnes opened scoring in the second half with a jump shot off a steal from Vendrell, giving the Blazers a two point lead, 35-33. Rachael Childress knotted the score at 41 with a deep trey with 5:58 left in the third quarter just before Sara Rosenfeldt gave the lead back to UAB with a steal and a layup, making the score 43-41. Kuzmanic extended the Blazer advantage with a 3-pointer with two seconds remaining in the period, giving UAB a 55-46 lead going into the final stanza.
The Blazers claimed a double-digit advantage after the first basket of the final quarter, a layup by Barnes, to go up 57-46. WKU cut the lead to five, 59-54, with 6:39 left but Childress answered with a 3-pointer, pushing the lead back to eight, 62-54. The Lady Toppers clawed back again, cutting their deficit to just three, 66-63, on a trey by Dee Givens with 22 seconds remaining before UAB pulled away on free throws by Barnes and Kuzmanic.
"When you go through a long basketball season, and start off by playing on such a high level, you are going to have pockets where you're not playing your best basketball," Norton said. "We're a couple weeks away from the conference tournament and we're clicking on all cylinders."
The Blazers return to the court to take on Middle Tennessee on Feb. 23 at Bartow Arena in a rematch of the Feb. 2 showdown in Murfreesboro, Tenn.
Women's basketball season tickets are on sale by purchasing the 2018-19 Gold Card for $65. The Gold Card includes access to home baseball and softball games, in addition to women's basketball's two remaining home contests. Contact the UAB Ticket Office (205) 975-UAB1 for more details.
For more information on the UAB women's basketball team, follow the Blazers on Twitter (@UAB_WBB), on Instagram (UAB_WBBall) or like them on Facebook (facebook.com/UABWBB).
