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Lady Blazers open with season win

Posted on Nov 17, 2009 in Sports

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Freshman guard Jala Harris scored 25 points in her collegiate debut to lead the UAB Blazers to a 76-62 win over the Alcorn State Lady Braves on Friday afternoon at Bartow Arena. The victory marked the 250th for the Blazers on their home court and the second year in a row they’ve opened the season with a win.

After trailing Alcorn State (0-1) by as many as eight in the first half, UAB’s (1-0) offense exploded to dominate the second half as three Blazers scored in double figures. In addition to Harris, senior forward Tamika Dukes tallied 11 points and freshman guard Amber Jones had 10.

“I think we came out a little intimidated early in the first half,” UAB head coach Audra Smith said. “We let them dictate the game, so we talked at halftime about playing our game instead of Alcorn State’s. Once we settled down, our defense tightened and we started forcing them to play our game.”

The Blazer defense held the Lady Braves to just 30.6 percent shooting from the field, while UAB shot 46.6 percent. UAB’s bench also was key in the contest, outscoring Alcorn State’s bench, 22-11.

In the first half, UAB freshman center Jasmine Green scored the game’s opening bucket and the two teams battled to a 5-5 tie before Alcorn State went on a 7-0 run with 15 minutes left. The Blazers cut the Lady Braves’ lead to 14-12 thanks to Dukes’ five straight points. Dukes also grabbed eight rebounds, had one steal and blocked a shot in the contest.

“Tamika is such a versatile player,” Smith said. “She really played tough and gutted it out. Her stats show that she did it all for us today and I’m proud of the way she’s improved.”

UAB continued to show resiliency in the first half, cutting an eight-point deficit to one as junior guard Amanda Peterson drained a three at the buzzer to make it 31-30 Alcorn State at the break.

The Blazers came out aggressively in the second half, regaining the lead, 37-35, at the 17-minute mark for the first time since the opening basket. UAB never relinquished the lead, stretching the advantage to 54-42 midway through the second half thanks to a 17-5 run.

UAB is now 21-11 in home openers and 14-18 in season-opening games.