BIRMINGHAM – The UAB women’s basketball Class of 2022 – Emily Frasco, Sara Rosenfeldt, Claudia Armato and Zakyia Weathersby – was honored before the Blazers 65-49 victory over UTEP on Saturday afternoon.
Margaret Whitley had her best shooting performance of the season, going 7-of-10 from the field and a perfect 4-for-4 from 3-point range, totaling 19 points. Emily Klaczek was 7-of-14 for 18 points and Weathersby pulled down a game-high 16 rebounds for the Blazers (15-12, 8-8 C-USA).
Katia Gallegos scored 19 points for the Miners (14-12, 6-10 C-USA).
UTEP led for the first eight minutes of the 1st quarter, going ahead 11-5. Whitley’s 3-pointer followed by five straight points from Klaczek gave UAB its first lead at 13-11 with 1:03 remaining.
The Blazers would maintain their advantage throughout the 2nd quarter, taking a lead of as many as nine points with 5:58 to play. The Miners cut the deficit to five points after scoring the last two baskets of the half to make the score 25-20 going into halftime.
UAB scored the first nine points of the 3rd quarter and would build a 17-point lead by the 3:30 mark. Armato’s layup closed out the scoring, maintaining the advantage 44-27. The lead would swell to 20 points twice, the last on Klaczek’s bank shot with 2:03 remaining that made the score 61-41.
“I thought we defended really well. Coach [Taren] Martin put together a great gameplan,” said head coach Randy Norton. “The players were locked in and really stuck to the plan.”
UAB’s eight steals tied its second highest for the season as they converted 13 UTEP turnovers into 23 points. The Blazers dominated in the paint, outscoring the Miners 32-18. UAB held UTEP to 30% shooting and 21% from 3-point range, while outrebounding them 45-36.
“It’s great to get a win on Senior Day,” added Norton.
The homestand concludes on Mar. 3 against Southern Miss (16-10, 8-7 C-USA). The Lady Eagles fell to Rice 51-46 earlier this afternoon. The regular season finale against LA Tech on Mar. 5.
NOTES
- UAB has won eight of its last 10 games against UTEP and leads the all-time series 15-11
- Weathersby is two rebounds shy of 700 for her career
- Currently, UAB is fourth place in the West Division – 1/2 game behind Southern Miss and LA Tech and one full game behind North Texas
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