BIRMINGHAM, ALA. – Western Carolina women's basketball opened its season-long four-game road swing on Monday night, dropping an 81-56 decision to host UAB at Bartow Arena.
"Disappointed in the end result and our overall defensive execution tonight," said WCU head coach Kiley Hill. "We have got a bunch of new faces playing major minutes right now that will pay dividends later, but we've got to grow through that now."
Zanoria Cruz led the Catamounts with 12 points on 4-of-8 shooting, including making all four free throws. Jada Burton filled the stat sheet on Monday with 10 points, going 5-of-10 from the floor, adding six rebounds and five assists. Burton has now tallied 18 assists over the season's first three games to lead WCU. Lonasia Brewer totaled eight points to go along with a team-high seven rebounds.
"The great thing about basketball is we have the chance to quickly get back up and fight again and rapidly improve the correctable things from tonight's loss," added Hill.
Tracey Bershers led UAB with 20 points including five 3-points for the Blazers. Mia Moore added 18 points and five rebounds to her performance for the hosts, as Molly Moffitt totaled 10 points and seven rebounds off the bench. Jade Weathersby led all players in Monday's action with 13 rebounds, with six coming on the offensive glass. Denim Deshields totaled nine points to go along with a team-high seven assists.
Cruz got the Catamounts off to a fast start with the team's first five points in a 5-2 spurt over the opening two minutes. UAB countered with a 7-2 run over the next two minutes to gain a slim two-point edge, 9-7. Western Carolina (1-2) bounced back from the Blazers run with six of the next eight points to gain a 13-11 lead before the hosts closed on a 10-3 run to take a 21-16 lead to the second quarter.
UAB (2-0) carried its momentum into the second quarter using an 11-2 burst out of the gates to push the lead to 14, 32-18 with 7:03 to play in the half. WCU cut the deficit to 10, 38-28, before a 7-2 run over the final three minutes allowed the hosts to take a 45-30 lead to the break.
The two teams went back and forth out of the locker room with the Blazers leading 52-38 with 6:55 to play. UAB then used a 13-4 run over the next five minutes to extend the lead to 65-42 with 1:05 to play in the quarter. Reagan Trumm connected on a late three, followed by an Ewa Kielar free throw in the closing moments to make it a 65-46 Blazers lead headed for the fourth quarter.
The Catamounts started fast with four of the opening six points in the quarter to cut it to 17, 67-50 before an 8-2 Blazers run opened the advantage back up for UAB as the hosts were able to push forward to the 81-56 victory on Monday night.
UAB finished the game shooting 44.8% (30-of-67), holding Western Carolina to 37.5% (24-of-64). The Blazers used the deep ball to their advantage, connecting on eight threes compared to one for WCU. UAB connected on 13-of-18 (72.2%) free throws as the guests made 7-of-12 (58.3%). The Blazers won a tight rebounding battle by one, 40-39. Both teams were distributing the ball effectively, as the Blazers had 17 compared to 16 helpers for the Catamounts. UAB forced 17 turnovers and limited themselves to seven as the Blazers outscored WCU 24-5 in points off of turnovers. UAB had a slight edge in the paint at 44-40.
The Catamounts continue their four-game road swing on Thursday, Nov. 16, at 11 a.m. against UNCW in Wilmington, N.C. The Seahawks sit at 1-1 on the season after a victory over The Apprentice School (78-42) before dropping their most recent contest to Wofford (49-74) on Saturday afternoon. The matchup with UNCW will be shown on FLO Hoops (paid subscription required), with live stats available on CatamountSports.com.
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