The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
UAB
Florida Atlantic
Blazers Drop Heartbreaker to Owls, 52-51
3/5/2016 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - The UAB women's basketball team had a chance to put the game away at the charity stripe, but couldn't get a pair of free throws to fall as it fell to FAU, 52-51, at Bartow Arena on Saturday afternoon.
"I'm really proud of (Brittany Winborne)," head coach Randy Norton said. "She had 10 points and 14 rebounds, 5-of-8 from the field. Sometimes, that's the last play of the game but it's a 40 minute game and I could go down the list where other people made mistakes."
"We win as a team and we lose as a team; unfortunately that's a tough loss," Norton added. "I thought our kids played hard."
Sophomore forward Keonna Farmer dropped a conference-best 12 points to lead the Blazers in the attack. The Birmingham native shot 6-of-11 from the floor in 17 minutes of action. Senior forward Brittany Winborne notched her 16th double-double of the season, a league best, with 10 points and 14 boards. The Baltimore, Maryland, native has recorded 322 rebounds this season, the fifth most in UAB's single-season history.
Senior guards Bianca Dufelmeier and Chelsee Black added 9 and 8 points, respectively, for the Blazers. Black, UAB's 17th all-time leading scorer, is just 8 points shy of 16th place in the record books.
UAB (14-15, 7-11) got off three shots in the final 11.6 seconds, but was unable to get them to fall. Then, after the Owls earned their fifth foul of the quarter, the Blazers had a chance at the free-throw line, but neither hit the bottom of the net as UAB fell to FAU.
The Blazers were firing on all cylinders to open the contest as they shot 7-of-11 from the floor, while the Owls were a hot 4-of-8; but UAB held a slight advantage with a 15-11 lead at the 4:05 mark.
In the second, UAB and FAU went shot for shot, but the Blazers netted 1 extra point as they extended their lead to three, 34-31, at the midway point.
UAB held Florida Atlantic to a mere 10 points in the third, but were held to just 6 points, 2-of-14 from the field, allowing the Owls to take a 41-40 lead at the end of the third.
The Blazers and Owls matched each other point for point in the fourth quarter as UAB fell on Senior Day.
UAB dominated inside as it outscored FAU 22-8 in the paint. The Blazers also out-produced the Owls in points off turnovers (24-10) and second-chance buckets (12-3).
The Blazers await seeding for the C-USA tournament, which is held in Birmingham.
UAB secured a first-round bye in the C-USA tournament with its win over FIU, and will play Wednesday.
The Conference USA Men's and Women's Basketball Championships are set to return to Birmingham for the second consecutive year, marking the third time the Blazers will host the event. The men's tournament, as well as the women's semifinals and championship, will be played at Legacy Arena in downtown Birmingham, while the women's first-round and quarterfinal action will take place at UAB's Bartow Arena.
