BIRMINGHAM – Senior shooting guard Rachael Childress tied a season high with 26 points to lift UAB over UTEP 63-51 Saturday afternoon at Bartow Arena.
Childress shot lights out going 10 for 13 from the field and four for five from behind the arc. Eighteen of Childress’ 26 points came in the first half as she was a perfect six for six going into halftime. Angela Vendrell dominated the boards for the Blazers finishing just shy of a double-double with 14 rebounds and seven points.
UAB (15-7, 7-3 C-USA) held the Miners to four points in the first quarter as UTEP had just one made field goal after 10 minutes. Childress scored eight of her 18 first half points in the first quarter with two triples and a jumper.
Childress began the second quarter on fire scoring the first 10 points for UAB. Nine of the Miners’ 15 second quarter points came from Avery Crouse. Margaret Whitley hit a buzzer beating three to put the Blazers up 36-19 going into halftime.
UTEP (12-8, 5-4 C-USA) picked up the pace in the second half outscoring UAB 20-16 in the third quarter. Childress recorded six more points in the third while Trista Magee added six of her own off two triples.
After a jumper from UTEP and a three from Vendrell to open the fourth quarter, both teams went cold for the next three minutes. UTEP scored the next six points but UAB answered with an 8-0 run to secure a 12-point victory over the Miners and move to 7-3 in C-USA play.
“I’m really pleased with our win today,” said head coach Randy Norton. “I thought our girls did what it took to win the game and it all started with the defense and rebounding. I am really proud of the effort, I’m not sure how many games it is we have strung together now where we have held teams to under their averages but that is a credit to our team. It’s never going to be perfect or pretty, but you can see our girls out there battling for every rebound.”
The Green and Gold out rebounded UTEP 39-36, holding the Miners under their 41.3 average. UAB also held UTEP to 51 points which is well below the Miners 70.5 point per game average. UTEP shot below 30.0 percent in the game despite averaging 41.4 percent this season. The Blazers have held their opponents to 55 points or less in the last three games this season after starting the season giving up the most points in the league.
UAB has a big road trip coming up as the Blazers try to keep the momentum going against conference leader Rice next Thursday in Houston. The defending champs are a perfect 9-0 in conference play so far this season, marking 25 straight C-USA wins for the Owls.
Secure your women’s basketball season tickets by purchasing the 2019-20 Gold Card for $65 here. The Gold Card is an exclusive offer that grants you admission into all women’s basketball, men’s and women’s soccer, volleyball, baseball and softball events for the upcoming academic year. Contact the UAB Ticket Office at (205) 975-UAB1 for more details.
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