Blazers Comeback to Defeat Middle Tennessee 77-72 in Overtime

Saturday, February 23

Birmingham, Ala.

2 p.m.

UAB

22-5, 10-4

Middle Tennessee

19-8, 10-4

OT 1

Middle Tennessee

UAB

Blazers Comeback to Defeat Middle Tennessee 77-72 in Overtime

2/23/2019 5:48:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score Box Score

BIRMINGHAM – Despite being down 14 points at the half, the UAB women's basketball team fought back to defeat Middle Tennessee 77-72 in overtime on Saturday afternoon at Bartow Arena.

The overtime victory marked UAB's first since defeating Rice 62-61 in extra time on Jan. 8, 2016. The win also improved the Blazers to 1-1 in overtime games this season.

"I am so stinking proud of our young ladies," head coach Randy Norton said. "We really challenged them at halftime and they came out on a mission. Honestly, it is one of the best wins I have ever been a part of because of the circumstances and the way we played in the first half. Middle Tennessee is a really, really good team so we knew it was going to be a battle, but our girls fought, they scraped, battled and played with great poise down the stretch. It was a really good team win.

Miyah Barnes led the Blazers in scoring for the second consecutive game, finishing with 19 points, 15 of which came after the first half. The Memphis, Tenn., native made a season high six field goals and reeled in a season best six rebounds, while also finishing 6-of-8 at the free throw line.

Katelynn Thomas and Rachael Childress also found the double figure scoring column for the Green and Gold, netting 13 points each. Thomas was 5-of-9 from the field and a perfect 3-for-3 at the free throw line, while Childress connected on five field goals, including a 3-pointer.

As a team the Blazers shot an impressive 50.9 percent (27-of-53) from the field, outscoring the Blue Raiders in the paint (42-to-30), second chance points (12-to-6) and bench points (16-to-6).

UAB improves to 22-5 on the season and 10-4 in league play, while today's victory moved them into a tie for second place in the Conference USA standings.

Middle Tennessee opened the game on a quick 5-0 run over the first two minutes, before Childress netted a jumper 1:59 into the contest for the Blazers' first points. A Deanna Kuzmanic 3-pointer on the ensuing possession tied the game at five, but the Blue Raiders responded, netting the following five points. After trading buckets to close the first quarter, A'Queen Hayes layed a shot in with 12 seconds to play in the period, giving Middle Tennessee a 14-11 advantage after the first quarter.

The Blue Raiders opened the second quarter on a 16-2 run as they pushed their lead to 17 with 5:31 to play in the half. Three consecutive UAB free throws followed by a 3-pointer from Barnes cut Middle Tennessee's lead to 11, but another layin from Hayes with three seconds left in the half gave the Blue Raiders a 34-20 lead to take into the locker room.

UAB opened the second half on a 14-3 run over the opening five minutes as the Blazers found holes in the Middle Tennessee defense, connective on three easy layins to cut the game to 37-34. A layup from Sara Rosenfledt with 1:53 remaining in the period cut the Middle Tennessee lead to two, before Childress connected on a jumper after a Blue Raider turnover to tie the game at 42. Barnes hit the go ahead jumper with 48 seconds left in the frame, but Middle Tennessee raced down the court to hit a jumper of its own to lead 45-44 with 10 minutes to play in regulation.

Middle Tennessee appeared to have regained control of the game, opening the fourth quarter on 6-2 run, pushing its lead back to five, but a 4-0 UAB run closed the gap back to one with 7:03 to play in regulation. Childress tied the game at 58 with a pair of free throws, but the Blue Raiders responded hitting a trio at the charity stripe to lead 61-58 with 2:51 left in the fourth quarter. Barnes once again proved clutch, connecting on a layin to put UAB up one with 1:21 to play. Anna Jones hit a 3-pointer for Middle Tennessee with 53 seconds in the final period to put the Blue Raiders up two, but Barnes was fouled with seven seconds to play and hit both free throws to send the game into overtime tied at 64.

Alex Johnson hit a jumper with 3:52 remaining in the game to give Middle Tennessee its final lead of the game at 68-66. From there Thomas layed in a shot to tie the game at 68 and then followed that with an and-1 to give UAB a 71-68 advantage with 2:21 to play and a lead it would not relinquish. Vendrell put the dagger in the game, hitting a 3-pointer with 54 seconds left, giving UAB a four-point cushion. Kuzmanic hit the final points of the game with a pair of free throws in the final 10 seconds to secure the five-point UAB win.

Johnson led Middle Tennessee with a game high 28 points on a 10-of-14 day from the free throw line. Hayes poured in 14 points, while Jones added 10.

UAB returns to action for the final time at Bartow Arena when it welcomes UTEP for Senior Day on March 2. Tipoff between the Blazers and Miners is set for 2 p.m.

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).