FRISCO, Texas – With UAB down by two points, Denim DeShields’ running layup rolled out with 2.2 seconds remaining as WKU made a pair of free throws with 0.1 seconds to steal away a 71-67 victory on Thursday afternoon in the quarterfinal round of the 2023 Conference USA Championship at The Star.
In her final game as a Blazer, Margaret Whitley recorded her first career double-double with 20-points and a career-high 10-rebounds. Maria Roters scored 12 points and grabbed nine rebounds. Destinee McGhee was perfect from the floor hitting all six of her shots for 14 points. Deshields finished with 13 points and five rebounds.
Acacia Hayes and Jaylin Foster each had 16-points and Alexis Mean and Aaliyah Pitts added 13 and 10-points, respectively for WKU
Things did not start off well for the Blazers. The Lady Toppers opened the game with a 3-pointer, then forced a turnover on UAB’s first possession resulting in a layup to take a 5-0 lead forcing a timeout 42 seconds into the game. The Blazers would settle down and recover, tying the contest 8-8 three minutes later.
A layup by Roters followed by a 3-pointer by Whitley gave UAB its first lead of the game at 13-12 at the midway point of the quarter. The rest of the quarter would flip-flop with WKU eventually taking a 19-18 lead after the first 10-minutes of play.
The 2nd quarter had six lead changes. With UAB ahead 25-23 on an Emily Klaczek 3-pointer, the Tops went on an 11-4 run to get their largest lead of the quarter at five points. Roters’ layup closed out the scoring to get the Blazers within three points at 34-31 heading into halftime.
The 3rd quarter began with five more lead changes. With WKU ahead 46-44, they finished out on a 7-0 run to take its largest lead of the game at nine points when Pitts’ layup made the score 53-44 heading into the final stanza.
The Blazers clawed and fought their way back and with 5:38 remaining in regulation, Roters’ and-1 tied the contest at 57-57. The teams exchanged a four WKU free throws with two DeShields layups for the sixth and seventh ties of the game.
Deadlocked 61-61, the Tops hit back-to-back 3-pointers from Mead and Pitts to take a 67-61 lead with 1:52 left. With less than a minute left Whitley was fouled in the act of shooting a 3-pointer. She made all three, Blazers down 67-64 with 42.2 seconds to play.
On the ensuing possession, Mead was called for an offensive foul with 16.6 left. Unfortunately, it was an empty trip for the Blazers as they fouled after a missed layup. Hayes missed the first and made the second. UAB called timeout with 13.1 seconds to play. Two seconds later, Whitley was fouled again on a 3-point attempt. She drained all three to make the score 68-67 with 11.1 on the clock.
After a foul, Mead went to the line, missing the first, making the second. The Blazers had the chance to tie but DeShields’ game-tying shot didn’t fall.
UAB finishes the season 14-17.
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