The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
UAB
Mississippi Valley State
Blazers Tame Devilettes
12/5/2015 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - Senior Bianca Dufelmeier matched her season high in scoring, helping boost the Blazers to a 80-33 win over Mississippi Valley State at Bartow Arena on Saturday. Dufelmeier finished with a team-high 13 points and five assists.
"We are really excited about Bianca," said UAB head coach Randy Norton. "With a few injuries since we recruited her, this is really her first full season. We are thrilled about her playing at a high level."
Freshman Deanna Kuzmanic added 13 points on the night. The Wheeling, Ill. native shot 3-of-8 from beyond the arc and added five rebounds. Chelsee Black shot 50 percent from the field, also finishing with 13 points and five assists in her 30 minutes. Kara Rawls contributed key points from off the bench. Rawls finished with five points and five rebounds on the afternoon.
UAB (4-4) shot an impressive 18-of-37 (.486) from the field in the first half. The Blazers netted 42 points in the opening half, the most so far this season. Bianca Dufelmeier was 4-of-7 in the first 20 minutes of play, leading the Blazers with 11 points going into the break. UAB held MVSU to just nine points in the second quarter, boosting the Green and Gold to a 42-19 halftime lead, putting the game out of reach.
The Blazers kept up the energy against the Devilettes in the second half, extending their lead to 28 points with 5:26 to play in the third quarter off a Kayla Anderson turnaround jumper in the paint. The Blazers hit 13-of-29 (.448) shots in the second half of play and added two more three-point baskets.
"I really liked the way they came out the second half, said Norton. "I thought our girls played much better in the last 20 minutes, holding them to just three points in the fourth quarter."
MVSU (1-7) committed 21 turnovers in the contest. UAB notched 26 points off the MVSU errors. The 33 points allowed by the Blazer defense was the second lowest by an opponent this season. MVSU only managed to attempt 54 field goals. Christina Reed had a game-high 19 points for MVSU.
Senior Kayla Anderson recorded three blocks in the game, which now ties her with Deanna Jackson for the most blocks (125) in program history.
"I'm really proud of Kayla, added Norton. "We feel like she is finally getting back to playing at a high level following an injury her sophomore year. For her to tie that record with Deanna Jackson who is one of the best players to come out of UAB is a big deal."
UAB shot 47.0 percent (31-of-66) from the field and 26.9 percent (7-of-26) from beyond the arc. The Green and Gold shot 11-of-17 (64.7%) from the charity stripe.
The Blazers hit the road next Sunday to take on South Alabama in Mobile, Ala. at 2 p.m. CT.
"We have finals week coming up, so we really want the girls to focus on their studies, said Norton. "We've got a chance to have our highest team GPA since I've got here, so we are really excited about that. Our next three games are against teams in Alabama which is something we are looking forward to."
For more information on the UAB women's basketball team, follow the Blazers on Twitter (@UAB_WBB), on Facebook (Facebook.com/UABWBB) and on Instagram (Instagram.com/uab_wbball). For more on all Blazer sports teams follow the official social media accounts of UAB Athletics on Twitter (@UABAthletics), on Facebook (Facebook.com/UAB.Blazers), on Instagram (@uabathletics) and on Snapchat (@uabathletics).
