BIRMINGHAM – The UAB women’s basketball team will celebrate National Girls and Women in Sports Day Saturday as they host UTEP at 2 p.m. at Bartow Arena.
UAB (14-7, 6-3 C-USA) is winners of five straight after downing UTSA 94-55 Thursday morning. The Blazers have been firing on all cylinders in the last five games outscoring opponents by an average of 19.4 points per game while shooting 48.9 percent from the field and 40.8 percent from three. The Green and Gold have gone to the charity stripe 32 more times than their opponents while shooting 82.9 percent. The UAB defense has been getting the job done holding opponents to 61.0 points per game and below 40 percent shooting while recording 24 blocks and 36 steals.
Rachael Childress continues to make her mark in the history books after moving into the top-10 in NCAA all-time three-point shooting Thursday with her 392nd career triple. The senior has been lights out the last five games shooting 54.0 percent from the field and 52.6 percent from three while averaging 16.8 points per game.
Lieberman Award nominee Miyah Barnes has also been big for the Blazers in the five-game stretch averaging 16.4 points and 3.8 rebounds per game while dishing out 11 assists and recording seven steals. Barnes has gone to the free-throw line more than any Blazer the last five games shooting 89.3 percent with 25 makes off 28 attempts.
UTEP (12-7, 5-3) is one of the best offensive teams in the league averaging 70.5 points per game with the second highest scoring margin (+10.0) in C-USA. The Miners have the second best three-point defense in C-USA allowing just 84 triples all season. UTEP’s 41.3 rebounds per game are third best in the league with Ariona Gill’s 8.6 boards per game leading the way.
Freshman Katia Gallegos sits just behind conference leader Angela Vendrell in assists with 90 on the season averaging 4.7 per game. Gallegos also leads the Miners with 28 steals on the season and has the fourth best assist/turnover ratio at 1.6. The Miners scoring comes mostly from senior Katarina Zec who averages 13.0 points per game with 5.3 rebounds.
“UTEP has been playing some great basketball as of late and our team has a tremendous respect for their program,” said head coach Randy Norton. “It is another great opportunity to compete against a top team in the league and get better.”
The Blazers and Miners have met on 21 occasions with UAB leading the series 12-9 and a 7-2 home record against UTEP. UAB has won five straight meetings with UTEP including two wins last season. Childress led UAB in scoring in both games scoring 18 points off six threes in the first contest in January and then a career-high 29 points with eight threes in the second meeting in March.
In honor of National Girls and Women in Sports Day on Feb. 5, Saturday’s game will celebrate women in sports with a scrunchie giveaway and a postgame clinic on the court with multiple UAB women’s sports teams. Admission is free to girls’ basketball teams with the submission of a roster to sportspromo@uab.edu.
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.
For more information on the UAB women’s basketball team, follow the Blazers on Twitter (@UAB_WBB) and Instagram (UAB_WBBall).
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