LORMAN, Miss. – Senior Angela Vendrell recorded her first career triple-double with 10 points, 19 rebounds and 10 assists in an 86-65 victory over Alcorn State Sunday afternoon.
Rachael Childress led all scorers with 25 points off 80 percent shooting from the field going 6-7 from three-point range. Katelynn Thomas finished right behind her with a season-high 23 points and added seven rebounds and one block. Vendrell’s career high 19 rebounds led the way for UAB and her 10 assists were a season high.
UAB (6-3) opened the game with a 13-2 run off 10 points from Childress who went 4-4 with two threes. The Blazers shot 54.5 percent from the field in the first quarter and 60.0 percent from beyond the arc.
Thomas took over in the second quarter with six points in a row for the Blazers. Alcorn State (4-7) started to come alive forcing some turnovers and bringing the game as close as four after Jada Hargrove’s three cut the lead to 26-22. The Blazers surged back after Zakyia Weathersby hit a layup and got a big block at the other end of the floor. With 31 seconds remaining in the half Childress knocked down her fourth three and picked up the foul to make it a four-point play. The Blazers would go into halftime up 45-29 off 56.3 percent shooting.
Thomas continued to work down low scoring 10 more points in the third quarter to bring her total to 19. Vendrell grabbed seven boards and added three more points and two assists to bring her to 17 rebounds, eight points and seven assists after three quarters of play with the Blazers up 65-44. The Blazers defense held strong in the third keeping the Braves to below 20 percent shooting in the quarter.
UAB opened the fourth quarter with a 12-0 run with Childress hitting back-to-back threes to bring her total to six triples in the game. Vendrell recorded her 10th assist of the afternoon on a dish to Thomas who brought her total to 23 points with 7:30 remaining. At 4:50 in the fourth quarter Vendrell completed her triple-double with a layup under the basket as the UAB bench erupted in cheers.
“I am very pleased with our defensive effort and our ability to take care of the ball today,” said head coach Randy Norton. “We did a great job sharing the basketball with 26 assists and all of our girls got quality minutes which will help us moving forward.”
Sara Rosenfeldt finished with a career high eight points off 4-5 shooting from the field. Weathersby added nine points of her own with five rebounds and one block. The Blazers shot 55.0 percent from the field and 45.0 percent from beyond the arc while holding Alcorn State to 37.1 percent shooting. UAB dominated in the paint scoring 48 points down low from Thomas, Vendrell, Rosenfeldt and Weathersby. Miyah Barnes moved into third place in UAB history in assists with 456 to surpassing Beverly Williams.
UAB heads to New Orleans next Friday, Dec. 20 to play in Tulane’s tournament. The Blazers will face Colorado on Friday and Texas Southern on Saturday with both games at 1 p.m. CST.
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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