Blazers Fall To Memphis In Close One, 73-72

Saturday, December 7

Memphis, Tenn.

4:00 PM

UAB

Memphis

Blazers Fall To Memphis In Close One, 73-72

12/7/2013 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball

Dec. 7, 2013

Box Score | Box Score

MEMPHIS, Tenn. - The game came down to the final seconds after the UAB women's basketball team trailed by just two points with 10 seconds left, but Memphis was able to hold on to take the win, 73-72, on Saturday. 

"We didn't play as well as we could have," head coach Randy Norton said. "You have to give credit to our kids though, when we were down 10 at the end we really picked it up and finished the game playing the way we are capable of playing. We just didn't play a full 40 minutes today, but I am proud of them because we didn't quit and fought to the final buzzer."

UAB (6-4) was down by six points to Memphis (4-5) at the half, but battled back to outscore the Tigers 40-35 in the second half. The Blazers shot 41.1 percent from the field, while the Tigers shot 44.8 percent.

Three Blazers finished with double-figures in the game. Senior Ashley Grimes led all players with a career-high 36 points, sophomore Chelsee Black added 17 and senior Karisma Chapman finished with 11 points. Four different players reached double-digits for Memphis, led by Ariel Hearn with 17 points.

Grimes finished 12-of-23 from the floor and netted a career-high 6-of-8 from three-point range. She also hit 6-of-7 free throws, dished out four assists and had four steals in the game. Black led UAB with five assists and Chapman added three.

For just the second time this season, the Blazers did not win the rebounding battle. Memphis tallied 42 rebounds, while UAB finished with 33. Chapman led the Green and Gold with nine rebounds and sophomore Kayla Anderson added eight. Anderson also recorded a career-high five blocks in the contest.

UAB opened the game with an 11-4 run, including seven points from Grimes, to force Memphis to call a timeout at the 17:15 mark. Memphis fought its way back into the game to tie it up at 16-16. The Tigers took the lead with 11:45 to go in the first half, and would not relinquish it.

Memphis held its largest lead, 36-24, with 3:08 to go in the first half. The Blazers scored five-straight points off of a layup by Anderson and a three from Black to cut it to seven. UAB closed out the first half with a 6-2 run to head into the locker room down six.

In the second half, Memphis pulled away to take a 54-43 lead at the 14:03 mark. The Blazers would not give up, as they slowly chipped away at the lead to make it 69-64 after a big three-pointer by Grimes with 2:49 remaining.

Down four with a minute to go, Memphis fouled Grimes on a three-point shot to send her to the line. She converted two of three to make it 69-67 Memphis. The teams traded points as the Tigers were ahead 71-69 with 10 seconds left.

The Blazers came away with a steal on the inbounds, but a missed jumper gave the ball back to the Tigers who hit two free throws to put the game out of reach. Black closed out the game with a three at the buzzer that cut it to a final score of 73-72.

UAB will have the week off before returning home to host High Point on Tuesday, Dec. 17 at 7 p.m. CT.

For the latest news on Blazer sports, follow the UAB Athletics Twitter account: @UABathletics. For women's basketball news, follow @UAB_WBB.