FRISCO, Texas – The UAB women’s basketball team advanced to the quarterfinal round of the 2023 Conference USA Championship after defeating North Texas 75-71 at The Star on Wednesday afternoon. With the win, the No. 10 seed Blazers (14-16) will face No. 2 seed WKU on Thursday at 1:30 p.m.
Freshmen Desiree Ware and Denim DeShields combined for 37 points while Maria Roters recorded a double-double of 11 points and a game-high 12 rebounds along with six assists.
Ware had a career-high 19 points and DeShields added 18.
North Texas was led by Kendra McGruder with 16 points and Quincy Noble with 14 points.
As expected, the game was close throughout with nine ties and nine lead changes. Down 36-31 in the 2nd quarter Ware hit four free throws sandwiched between a Margaret Whitley 3-pointer and layup to take a lead into halftime at 40-36.
With 54 seconds remaining in the contest and the score deadlocked at 70-70, DeShields converted an and-1 with put UAB ahead for good. She closed out the scoring with a pair of free throws with 11.8 seconds remaining.
“I couldn’t be more proud of the team. They’ve remained resilient, they’ve stuck together and it was really fun to watch them beat a very good North Texas team,” said head coach Randy Norton.
“I’m really proud of the poise Denim and Des played with in their first C-USA Championship game.”
GAME NOTES
- Wednesday’s win marks the third time this season UAB defeated North Texas
- UNT was 14-for-28 from the foul line
- Thursday’s game will be broadcast on ESPN+
C-USA ALL SESSION PASS
2023 C-USA Basketball All-Session Tickets are now available. The 2023 C-USA Men’s and Women’s Championship is presented by the Ford Center at The Star located in Frisco, Texas. Tournament play will begin on Wednesday, March 8th with the Championships being held on Saturday, March 11th at 4:30 and 7:30pm. All-Session Tickets include both the men’s and women’s tournament games at The Star. For additional information please call the UAB Athletics Ticket Office at 205-975-8221. To view the full tournament schedule, please click here. You can purchase tickets for the 2023 C-USA Basketball Championship here.
FOLLOW THE BLAZERS
For more information on the UAB women’s basketball team, follow @UAB_WBB on Twitter and Instagram.
