UAB Downs Charlotte 70-55 in C-USA Quarterfinal

Thursday, March 14

Frisco, Texas

1:30 p.m.

UAB

25-5

Charlotte

18-12

Charlotte

UAB

UAB Downs Charlotte 70-55 in C-USA Quarterfinal

3/14/2019 4:28:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score Box Score

FRISCO, Texas – Led by 21 points from point guard Miyah Barnes and a near triple double from senior Deanna Kuzmanic, the UAB women's basketball team defeated Charlotte 70-55 in the quarterfinals of the C-USA Championship on Thursday afternoon at the Ford Center.

UAB (25-5, 12-4 C-USA) has strung together consecutive 25+ win seasons for the first time in program history.

"It is always nice to get that first conference tournament game out of the way," head coach Randy Norton said. "I have always felt like that is a tougher game than the championship game because you have the first round jitters. But man I really like the way our team came out of the gates, we came out with a ton energy, we were sharp and crisp. In a 40-minute game you are always going to have some lulls and we had that, but part of that was due to Charlotte who has a very nice basketball team, a team that beat us at their place earlier in the year. All-in-all though I am really proud of our kids and I feel our team is starting to play its best basketball at the right time."

Barnes scored her 21 points on 7-of-9 shooting, including a perfect 5-of-5 from behind the arc, all of which came in the first quarter. Kuzmanic finished seven points, a career high 12 rebounds and nine assists.

Katelynn Thomas and Rachael Childress joined Barnes in double figures as Thomas added 16 on 6-of-8 shooting, while Childress chipped in with 12. The Blazers led the 49ers (18-12) wire-to-wire to earn a berth in Friday's semifinal.

Childress scored the game's first three points and the Blazers never looked back. UAB made five of its first seven shots and back-to-back fast break layups forced Charlotte into an early timeout with UAB leading 12-5.

Barnes then took over the game and made all five of her 3-point attempts in the first quarter as UAB led 31-17 after the opening 10 minutes.

The onslaught from behind the arc continued as UAB ultimately connected on nine of its 11 triples in the first half and took a 44-29 lead into the locker room. UAB was 63 percent overall in the first half (17-of-27) and held Charlotte to 33 percent (11-of-33).

Barnes had 15 in the first half, while Thomas had 11 and Childress added nine.

UAB outscored the 49ers by two in the third quarter and took a comfortable 62-45 lead into the final period. Six of UAB's seven made baskets in the third were from inside the arc.

Despite scoring all of eight of its points from the free throw line in the fourth quarter, UAB was able to keep Charlotte at a distance as the Blazers' suffocating defense held the 49ers to just 32.7 percent shooting overall.

For the game, UAB made 24-of-53 shots from the floor, 10-of-17 from behind the arc and 12-of-15 from the free throw line.

The second-seeded Blazers will take on the 3-seed Middle Tennessee in the semifinals on Friday night at 8 p.m. The game can be seen on Watch Stadium/Facebook.

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).