The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
UAB
Richmond
UAB Home Streak Ends With Overtime Loss To Richmond
12/30/2014 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Final Stats | Box Score 
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - Three players scored in double figures as the UAB women's basketball team had its home win-streak snapped with a, 71-65, loss to Richmond in overtime on Tuesday night.
"Obviously, that was a disappointing loss," head coach Randy Norton said. "That was a game that, after it got started, we settled in and played really good basketball. The second half we made some great adjustments and played some really good ball against a good team. What I am not pleased with is that I felt like we quit in overtime. I think we got deflated and Richmond just outplayed us."
UAB (6-5) was leading with 30 seconds remaining in regulation, but Richmond (8-4) hit a layup in the final seconds to send the game to overtime. The Spiders shot 33.3 percent in the extra period, while the Blazers were just 12.5 percent from the field.
Despite falling behind early in the first half, UAB shot 57.9 percent as senior Miranda Burroughs was 4-of-5 from 3-point range to lead the Blazers with 12 points. Richmond led by as many as eight and was up, 34-28, with 2:12 to play in the first when UAB began to close the gap.
Senior Janae Smith hit a jumper with under a minute to play and junior Chelsee Black ran the floor to nail a jumper at the buzzer to cut the lead to two, 34-32, heading into halftime.
Out of the break, junior Dy'man Webb tied the game up with just nine seconds off the clock in the second half. UAB then took its first lead of the game at the 19:07 mark in the second on a jumper by Smith.
The Blazers stretched their lead to five points, 41-36, within the first four minutes of the second half. Richmond would come back to pull within one and eventually regain the lead, 44-43, with 11:44 to play.
The teams began battling back-and-forth over the next three minutes that saw five ties and two lead changes. UAB took its second lead of the game at the 7:11 mark after Smith connected on two free throws.
Black, who finished 9-of-10 from the free throw line, sank two shots from the charity stripe and added a jumper with 4:27 remaining to give the Blazers a 55-50 lead.
UAB held onto the lead and was up by four points with 1:24 to play when Richmond was able to capitalize on a foul and a turnover by the Blazers to tie the game at 61-61 and send it to overtime.
The Spiders came out strong in the extra session, hitting a 3-pointer to take the lead and out-scored UAB, 10-4, to take the 71-65 win.
Black led UAB with 19 points on the night, Smith finished with 15 and Burroughs added 12. The Blazers finished 42.3 percent from the field and 69.6 percent from the free throw line.
Smith led the defensive efforts with eight rebounds, while Webb finished with seven. Smith also led the team with three steals.
"As I told the team, in our conference, games will go down to the wire," Norton said. "We need to have the poise to execute down the stretch. That is what non-conference is all about. You prepare for conference play and I look at it as three different seasons. You start with non-conference, and then you have your conference, and then your conference tournament. We need to learn from this and grow from it."
UAB will open Conference USA play at home this weekend when it hosts reigning champion Middle Tennessee on Sunday at 2 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.
