NEW ORLEANS – A strong second half showing by UAB lifted the Blazers over Texas Southern 84-68 in the Tulane Classic Saturday afternoon.
Katelynn Thomas’ 24 points was two points shy of a career-high and the most points for the senior this season. Rachael Childress finished with 14 points after a strong third quarter and led the team with eight assists. Miyah Barnes scored 13 points with six assists and was a perfect 5-5 from the free throw line. Zakyia Weathersby scored a career-high 11 points going 5-5 from the field with five rebounds and one block.
UAB (7-4) got out to an early lead behind Thomas who scored the first eight points for the Blazers. The senior finished the quarter with 10 points to put UAB up 18-15.
Texas Southern (4-6) scored the first eight points of the second quarter to pull ahead 22-18. Margaret Whitley tied the game with a three with 6:59 remaining in the first half before Texas Southern responded with a three of its own. Angela Vendrell tied it back up with a layup and one after she was fouled driving the lane. The two teams battled back and forth the rest of the quarter ending with Barnes making a circus shot under the basket and drawing the foul. The senior knocked down her free throw to send the Blazers into halftime down by two, 37-35.
UAB came alive in the third quarter behind Childress and Weathersby. The Blazers opened the second half with three straight triples, two from Childress and one from Barnes. Texas Southern would go on an 8-2 run to tie the game before Childress knocked down her fourth three to put the Blazers back ahead 49-46. Weathersby scored back-to-back buckets down low to increase the lead and finished the quarter with a three-point play after being fouled as she scored a layup. The Blazers went into the fourth quarter up 58-51.
The Blazers went on a 16-3 run to start the fourth quarter with seven points from Trista Magee including a three-pointer as the shot clock expired with 6:16 remaining in the game. Whitley knocked down her second three of the afternoon to put the Blazers up 74-54. Weathersby set her career-high 11 points on a layup with 43 seconds remaining in the game to give UAB its largest lead of the day. The Green and Gold would hold on to win 84-68 and improve to 7-4 on the season with one nonconference game remaining.
“Really proud of the way our team responded in the second half,” said head coach Randy Norton. “We have several key players out with injuries, and we challenged our team to find a way to win and they did. It was a great way to head into the holiday break.”
The Blazers shot 60.0 percent from the field and 50.0 percent from the three-point line while dishing out 24 assists and tallying five blocks. TSU was paced by Ciani Cryor who led all scorers with 26 points off 62.5 percent shooting. The Tigers who average 12.5 steals per game only recorded seven steals which was matched by the Blazers on the defensive end.
UAB will return to action before the new year against Tuskegee at Bartow Arena.
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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