BIRMINGHAM – Same goals. Different year. That is the outlook for the UAB women’s basketball team as they began the first official day of practice on Wednesday.
Win championships in the classroom, on the court and in the community has been the standard for head coach Randy Norton‘s team since he arrived in 2013. The outlook for this season’s team is promising.
Last season’s team was the youngest in Conference USA. With 11 players returning, Norton has seen the growth and knows the team has benefitted from last season.
“Being the youngest team in Conference USA last season, the team got invaluable experience playing games and going on the road,” said Norton.
“Last season, with us being so young, we didn’t get summer workouts. And that summertime is so valuable when you have a young team, just to teach your system and get a feel for your new teammates. So now, we’ve had a complete summer with them and finished five weeks in the fall. Now they’ve been through the regular season and had a great offseason and I really think that is going to help us.”
UAB returns 85% of its scoring from last year’s team, including Second Team All-Conference USA selections Margaret Whitley (19.4 ppg) and Zakyia Weathersby (13.7 ppg, 12.3 rpg).
Also returning to the Blazers are Caitlynn Daniels (7.7 ppg, 3.2 apg), who was a member of the Conference USA All-Freshman Team and was a two-time Freshman of the Week. Claudia Armato made 12 starts and had an assist/turnover ratio of 1.62. Sara Rosenfeldt (3.9 ppg) started 14 games.
Lindsey Dullard (8.5 ppg) made nine starts before missing the rest of 2020-21 with an injury. Maddie Walsh (5.8 ppg) made eight starts and recorded five double-figure games. Kylee Schneringer played in 17 games and Emily Klaczek 15 for UAB last season. Audrey Jordan and Jasmine Gracie each had their season ended early due to injury last year.
The Blazers have four new faces on the roster. Graduate transfer Lyndsey Robson joins the team after playing four seasons at Green Bay. Maria Roters was on the Northeast Conference All-Rookie Team at Fairleigh Dickinson. Destinee McGhee comes to the Magic City from Arkansas. Anna Denes, who has had international experience playing for the Hungarian U16 team, played at Trinity Christian School in Georgia.
“There is just nothing like that first day of practice. Both our team and our staff are ready to get going,” said Norton.
Women’s Basketball season tickets are on sale by purchasing the 2021-22 Gold Card for $65 here. The 2021-22 Gold Card will get you access to all home events for Women’s Soccer, Men’s Soccer, Volleyball, Women’s Basketball, Softball, and Baseball (Regions Field & Young Memorial). This card is not valid for Conference USA or NCAA Championship events.
For more information on the UAB women’s basketball team, follow @UAB_WBBall on Twitter and Instagram.
