UAB Women’s Basketball Conference USA History - Part 3 The Norton Years

As UAB's time winds down on Conference USA, we UABSports.com will take a look back on the last 28 seasons in the league. The three-part series will feature the three eras of coaches – Jeannie Milling, Audra Smith and Randy Norton.

The current era of leadership began on April 22, 2013 when Randy Norton was named head coach. This was Norton's first college head coaching position after holding the associate head coach title at Missouri and Illinois State.

Norton's first four seasons saw the Blazers boast eight different All-Conference players, including Karisma Chapman who became the first UAB player since 2008 to earn First Team All-Conference honors in 2014.

The nucleus was in place during the 2016-17 season when Rachael Childress was named the league's Freshman of the Year after averaging 12.4 points per contest and making 95 3-pointers. She was joined on the All-Freshman team by Miyah Barnes. This marked the first time in program history that two UAB players made the All-Freshman team.

The 2017-18 season was an amazing season of firsts. Not only did UAB have the biggest turnaround in program history from 15 wins to a school record 27, but also a set program record for conference wins with 13 and an overall winning percentage of .794. The regular season was capped with the Blazers being crowned regular season conference champions for the first time.

UAB had berth in the CUSA championship game for the first time since 2010 and advanced to the second round of the WNIT, marking their first postseason win in six years and first WNIT win since 2001.

For his efforts, Norton was named CUSA Coach of the Year becoming the only UAB head coach to earn this distinguished honor.

Off the court, UAB earned its first-ever CUSA Academic Excellence Award, which is given to those programs with the highest team GPA in their respective sports.

Next season the Blazers continued their success, ripping off 26 victories with 12 coming in CUSA play. The total of 53 overall and 25 CUSA wins was the best in a two-year stretch in program history and first time UAB won 79% of its games in back-to-back years. The Blazers advanced to the semifinals of the conference championship for the second straight time, also a first for the program.

In addition to Childress, who set a CUSA single-season record with 110 3-pointers, Barnes and Deanna Kuzmanic were named All-Conference. Norton became the fastest UAB head coach to win 100 games when the Blazers defeated Alabama State on Dec. 16, 2018.

The 2019-20 season saw the league increase its conference schedule from 16 to 18 games. Norton became the first head coach to lead UAB to three consecutive 20-win seasons and three straight double-figure CUSA wins. An invitation to the WNIT was waiting in the wings before the season was canceled on March 12.

Although the season was cut short, the Blazers' performance off the court was not deterred. They won the CUSA Academic Excellence Award. A dozen players made the CUSA Commissioner's Academic Honor Roll. Sara Rosenfeldt and Emily Frasco earned CUSA Academic Medal honors. Childress was named to the CUSA Women's Basketball All-Academic Team as well as the CoSIDA District 4 All-Academic Team alongside Trista Magee.

The 2020-21 was a unique season. Although the schedule planned for an 18-game conference slate, playing back-to-backs on Friday nights and Saturday afternoons, cancelations by UTSA and Rice limited the Blazers to just 14 league contests.

Once again, academics were strong as UAB won its second consecutive USA Academic Excellence Award. All 15 of Blazers were named to the CUSA Commissioner's Academic Honor Roll with Frasco, Caitlynn Daniels, Summer Schloss and Maddie Walsh being CUSA Commissioner's Academic Medals recipients.

Injuries haunted the Blazers for the final two seasons in the league, however two Blazers earned sports on the specialty teams as Zakyia Weathersby was named to the All-Defensive team in 2022 and Denim DeShields to the All-Freshman team in 2023.

Margaret Whitley finished 2023 with the second best single-season free throw percentage, 91.5%, in the history of the league, which was fourth in the NCAA.

UAB capped its time in Conference USA by winning its fourth Academic Excellence Award in June 2023. Sixteen Blazers were on the Commissioner's Honor Roll while five earned the Commissioner's Medal.

Overall, in the 28 seasons played in Conference USA, the Blazers have won 214 regular season CUSA contests.

UAB qualified for the league championship 27 times which is the most of any team in league history.

Among CUSA coaches at the conclusion of the 2022-23 season, Norton finished his time in CUSA with the third most conference wins at 86 and 37 his league victories was the second-best three-year streak when UAB won 37 games from 2017-20.

CUSA Awards and Honors Under Norton

Season	Player	Honor
2013-14	Karisma Chapman	First Team
2013-14	Ashley Grimes	Second Team
2014-15	Janae Smith	First Team
2014-15	Miranda Burroughs	All-Academic Team
2015-16	Deanna Kuzmanic	All-Freshman Team
2015-16	Chelsee Black	Second Team
2015-16	Brittany Winborne	Second Team
2015-16	Bianca Dufelmeier	All-Academic Team
2016-17	Miyah Barnes	All-Freshman Team
2016-17	Rachael Childress	All-Freshman Team
2016-17	Deanna Kuzmanic	Spirit of Service Team
2016-17	Rachael Childress	Freshman of the Year
2016-17	Deanna Kuzmanic	All-Academic Team
2017-18	Rachael Childress	First Team
2017-18	Deanna Kuzmanic	First Team
2017-18	Miyah Barnes	Second Team
2017-18	Deanna Kuzmanic	All-Academic Team
2017-18	Deanna Kuzmanic	CoSIDA All-District 4 Team
2018-19	Rachael Childress	First Team
2018-19	Deanna Kuzmanic	Second Team
2018-19	Miyah Barnes	Second Team
2018-19	Deanna Kuzmanic	CoSIDA All-District 6 Team
2019-20	Rachael Childress	Spirit of Service Team
2018-19	Deanna Kuzmanic	All-Academic Team
2019-20	Rachael Childress	First Team
2019-20	Miyah Barnes	Second Team
2019-20	Deanna Kuzmanic	CoSIDA All-District 4 Team
2019-20	Trista McGee	CoSIDA All-District 6 Team
2020-21	Caitlynn Daniels	All-Freshman Team
2020-21	Margaret Whitley	Second Team
2020-21	Zakyia Weathersby	Second Team
2021-22	Zakyia Weathersby	All-Defensive Team
2021-22	Zakyia Weathersby	First Team
2022-23	Denim DeShields	All-Freshman Team
2022-23	Margaret Whitley	Second Team

CUSA Seasons Under Norton

Season	Record	Place	CUSA Tournament	Postseason
2013–14	16-15, 7-9	T-7th	Quarterfinals	None
2014–15	18-13, 11-7	T-4th	Quarterfinals	None
2015–16	15-16, 7-11	T-8th	Quarterfinals	None
2016–17	15-15, 8-10	T-9th	First Round	None
2017–18	27-7, 13-3	1st	Runner-Up	WNIT Second Round
2018–19	26-7, 12-4	2nd	Semifinals	WNIT Second Round
2019–20	20-11, 12-6	5th	Canceled	Canceled
2020–21	10-13, 3-11	6th (West)	First Round	None
2021–22	16-15, 8-10	5th (West)	Quarterfinals	None
2022–23	14-17, 5-15	T-10th	Quarterfinals	None
Total	177-129, 86-86

Players individual CUSA rankings, awards, honors under Norton

Miyah Barnes

519 assists – 10^th all-time
11/14/16 - Freshman of the Week
11/21/16 - Freshman of the Week
11/11/19 - Player of the Week
2017 All-Freshman Team
2018 Second Team All-Conference
2019 Second Team All-Conference
2019 All-Tournament Team
2022 Second Team All-Conference

Chelsee Black

85.0 free throw percentage – 8^th all-time
2016 Second Team All-Conference

Miranda Burroughs

40.5 3-point percentage – 3^rd all-time
2015 All-Academic Team

Karisma Chapman

280 steals – 10^th all-time
2014 First Team All-Conference

Rachael Childress

415 3-pointers – 1^st all-time
979 3-point attempts – 1^st all-time
110 3-FG – 1^st single season
1,800 points – 14^thall-time
42.4 3-point percentage – 2^nd all-time
95 3-FG - 2017 leader
3.1 3-FG per game – 2018 leader
107 3-FG – 2018 leader
3.3 3-FG per game – 2019 leader
110 3-FG - 2019 leader
3.3 3-FG per game – 2020 leader
103 3-FG – 2020 leader
1/9/17 - Freshman of the Week
1/23/17 - Freshman of the Week
2/6/17 - Freshman of the Week
2/20/17 - Freshman of the Week
2/5/18 – Player of the Week
2017 Freshman of the Year
2017 All-Freshman Team
2018 First Team All-Conference
2018 All-Tournament Team
2019 First Team All-Conference
2019 Spirit of Service Team
2020 First Team All-Conference
2020 All-Academic Team

Caitlynn Daniels

1/11/21 - Freshman of the Week
2/22/21 - Freshman of the Week
2021 All-Freshman Team

Denim DeShields

2023 All-Freshman Team
12/28/22 - Rookie of the Week
12/26/22 - Rookie of the Week
1/9/23 - Rookie of the Week

Bianca Dufelmeier

2016 All-Academic Team

Ashley Grimes

2014 Second Team All-Conference

Deanna Kuzmanic

12/28/15 – Freshman of the Week
12/24/18 – Player of the Week
2/18/19 – Player of the Week
2016 All-Freshman Team
2017 All-Academic Team
2017 Spirit of Service Team
2018 First Team All-Conference
2018 All-Academic Team
2019 Second Team All-Conference
2019 All-Academic Team
2019 Postgraduate Scholarship

Janea Smith

2/16/15 – Player of the Week
3/9/15 – Player of the Week
2015 First Team All-Conference

Katie Thomas

59.7 FG percentage – 2018 leader
62.0 FG percentage – 2019 leader
11/26/19 - Player of the Week

Angela Vendrell

12/16/19 - Player of the Week

Zakyia Weathersby

343 rebounds - 2022 leader
11.1 rebounds per game - 2022 leader
282 rebounds - 2021 leader
12.3 rebounds per game – 2021 leader
56.8 FG percentage – 2022 leader
58.2 FG percentage – 2021 leader
.661 FG percentage – 2020 leader
2/22/21 - Player of the Week
12/6/22 - Player of the Week
2021 Second Team All-Conference
2022 First Team All-Conference
2022 All-Defensive Team

Brittany Winborne

217 CUSA rebounds – 1^st in single-season
345 rebounds – 2016 leader
11.1 rebounds per game – 2016 leader
58.2% FG percentage – 2016 leader
2016 Second Team All-Conference

Margaret Whitley

85.4 free throw percentage – 6^th all-time
91.5 free throw percentage – 2023 leader
3.1 3FG per game – 2021 leader
12/7/20 - Player of the Week
2021 Second Team All-Conference
2023 Second Team All-Conference

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