Jan. 7, 2005

Box Score

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. --- The UAB women's basketball team overcame an early deficit to defeat the Cincinnati Bearcats, 63-45, in its Conference USA opener in Bartow Arena on Friday night. The Blazers defeated Cincinnati for the first time in five games, their last win coming on Feb. 2, 2001, as UAB took a 61-58 win in Birmingham.

"I told the players from the onset that they had to be very aggressive on offense and that they had to pick their spots," said UAB head coach Audra Smith. "I must commend Cincinnati on coming in here and throwing up the zone, because the zone has given us problems in the past and it was a very good zone. I told the players that they had to attack that zone and find the openings, and once they found them to attack it on the dribble and we did that. We did a good job of reversing the ball against the zone and getting the ball up at the top. Then once we caught it, we attacked on the dribble or we knocked down open shots. That was our game plan from the onset."

UAB (4-10, 1-0) was down by eight, 10-2, to start the game, but went on a 21-4 run to take a 23-14 lead and never looked back. Cincinnati came back towards the end of the first half, but Lauren Brittingham hit a basket at the buzzer to give UAB a 30-26 halftime lead.

In the second half, UAB's defense held the Bearcats to 19 points and only eight field goals in the final 20 minutes. The Blazers used an aggressive offensive style in the second half to get to the free-throw line 15 times, knocking down 12 of them. On the defensive end, UAB only allowed Cincinnati to go to the charity stripe six times.

"I told the team that the game was going to be won on the defensive end and that we had to do it on defense. I was proud of the effort that the kids gave tonight and from that part of it I thought out defensive presence really sparked our offense. Once we got going defensively that really helped us relax. Once we started to hit shots it was almost contagious, because everybody got into it. Carmen (Guzman) did a good job on the perimeter for us. Crystal (McFadden) and Lauren (Brittingham) hit some big shots for us, as well as LaKitha Murray, who knocked down a huge three for us in the first half. It was a team effort and they really did a good job of supporting each other and being positive with each other and at this point I am just extremely proud of all of them."

The Blazers hit 40.8 percent of their shots in the contest, going 20-of-49 from the floor. Additionally, UAB nailed 5-of-10 from beyond the arc. McFadden and Guzman led all scorers with 15 points in the game, while Domaneice Moore was the game's leading rebounder with a career-high 11 boards.

UAB was effective on the defensive glass, allowing the Bearcats only nine second-chance points, while tallying 17 of its own. The Blazers outrebounded Cincinnati, 41-29, including a 19-13 offensive board advantage. Additionally, the Blazers had 17 points off of Cincinnati's 17 turnovers, while the Bearcats only tallied nine points on 18 UAB turnovers.

The Blazers continue Conference USA action when they host Louisville on Sunday at 2 p.m., in Bartow Arena.