The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
UAB
Louisiana Tech
Smith Leads UAB Past Louisiana Tech, 63-54
2/5/2015 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
RUSTON, La. - Senior Janae Smith finished with 26 points and the UAB women's basketball team used solid defense to hold off Louisiana Tech, 64-56, on Thursday night. It was the third-straight win for the Blazers.
"It was a great road win at Louisiana Tech," head coach Randy Norton said. "This is an extremely tough place to play. They are the second-toughest in the NCAA with an 88.8 win percentage at home. I thought we controlled the game for 40 minutes and were able to get out early on. They made some runs at us, we bent but didn't break."
UAB (12-9, 6-4 C-USA) handed Louisiana Tech (11-10, 6-4 C-USA) just its second loss at home on the year. The Blazers held the Lady Techsters to their third lowest score this season on just 30.4 percent from the field.
Along with tough defense, UAB had its offensive game going finishing 43.8 percent on the game after shooting 52.2 percent in the first half. Eight of the nine players that saw action scored, led by Smith's 26 for her fourth-straight game over 20 points.
"We had great contribution from everyone that played tonight," Norton stated. "The girls did a great job of looking for Janae (Smith) and Janae did a good job of kicking it out. We also hit some timely three's. It was just a great road win for us."
Junior Chelsee Black added nine points, while three others players finished with six apiece. Smith also led the team with seven rebounds and junior Kayla Anderson added six boards.
UAB jumped out quickly over Louisiana Tech with a 9-0 run to take a 14-5 lead. The Blazers extended their lead to 20-7 after another run while holding the Lady Techsters scoreless for five minutes. UAB's defense allowed two field goals by the Louisiana Tech for the first 12 minutes of the half.
The Blazers were leading, 26-14, when Louisiana Tech started a comeback, cutting UAB's lead down to eight. Freshman Whtyney Singleton nailed a 3-pointer from the corner to send it back to double-figures. Smith added a jumper with under a minute remaining to send the Blazers into the half up 31-19.
In the second half, Louisiana Tech opened with a 7-0 to cut the lead to 31-26 at the 16:11 mark. UAB's post players took over with a jumper by junior Brittany Winborne followed by a 3-point play for Smith to stretch the lead out to 10, 36-26.
The Blazers had to weather several runs from the Lady Techsters, who kept fighting to stay in the game. UAB just kept pounding the ball inside to Smith, who converted three 3-point plays in the second half.
With six minutes remaining in the game, UAB was up 48-42 when senior Miranda Burroughs hit a 3-pointer and Black added another three to push the lead to 54-42, with 4:29 remaining. Louisiana Tech would not go away, cutting the lead back to six two times, but the Blazers connected on 9-of-10 free throws to close out the 64-56 win.
UAB will remain on the road as it travels to Hattiesburg, Miss. To take on Southern Miss on Saturday. Tipoff is set for 4 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.
