Big 1st Quarter Leads UAB Over UTEP 68-45 on Senior Day

Saturday, March 2

Birmingham, Ala.

2 p.m.

UAB

23-5, 11-4

UTEP

7-21, 4-11

UTEP

UAB

Big 1st Quarter Leads UAB Over UTEP 68-45 on Senior Day

3/2/2019 4:56:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score PDF Box Score

Childress ties career-high in the victory

BIRMINGHAM – UAB sent seniors Deanna Kuzmanic and Maya Garland out in style as the Blazers defeated UTEP 68-45 on Saturday afternoon at Bartow Arena.

Kuzmanic scored 12 points and added eight assists without a turnover while Garland hit one of the Blazers' 14 3-pointers.

Rachael Childress scored 10 of her season-high 29 points in the game's first 4:12 and tied her career-high with eight 3-pointers. Katelynn Thomas and Sara Rosenfeldt each scored in double-figures – 12 and 10 respectively – for UAB who improves to 23-5, 11-4 C-USA. Miyah Barnes added six assists.

Zuzanna Puc led the Miners (7-21, 4-11 C-USA) with 11 points.

UAB led from wire-to-wire scoring the first 12 points of the game as Barnes opened the the 1^st quarter with a 3-pointer 12 seconds into play. The Blazers kept the momentum going as Childress converted the rare 4-point play on UAB's next possession.

UTEP came up empty on their first six possessions and did not record a field goal until the 6:45 mark of the 1^st quarter.

Barnes' buzzer-beater ended the 1^st quarter scoring with UAB leading 29-10. The Blazers shot an impressive 11-for-15 for 73.3 percent and made 5-of-9 3-pointers for 55.6 percent.

The UAB defense continued to cause problems for the Miners, holding them without a field goal until there was 2:09 remaining in the 2^nd quarter. Lea Kerstein's 3-pointer sent the game into halftime with the Blazers leading 41-19.

Childress' sixth and seventh 3-pointers of the contest gave UAB its largest lead of the game – 28 points twice, the second made the score 52-24 at 5:18 of the 3^rd quarter

The Blazers would hold a 20+ point lead the rest of the way for all but 1:32.

For the game, UAB hit 45 percent of their shots and 39 percent of their 3-pointers. Of their 25 total field goals, 18 were assisted.

The final regular season game is at Louisiana Tech (14-14, 6-9 C-USA) on Thursday evening. The Lady Techsters fell to #24/RV Rice 78-42 earlier this afternoon.

"What a great way to play our last game in Bartow Arena for these two seniors – two special seniors – to go out with a great win," said head coach Randy Norton. "This was a really good team effort."

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).