Box Score (PDF)
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – Sanaa Redmond scored a career-high 18 points and
Andrea Cournoyer added a game-high 27 to lead the Samford University women's basketball team to a 77-68 come-from-behind victory over the University of Alabama-Birmingham on Sunday at the Pete Hanna Center. The Bulldogs improved to 4-7 on the season with the win in the "Battle of Birmingham" while the Blazers slipped to 5-3. Zakyia Weathersby led the Blazers with 19 points and nine boards.
INSIDE THE MATCHUP:
Score: Samford 77 | UAB 68
Venue | Time: Pete Hanna Center | Birmingham, Ala. | 2 p.m.
Series: 10
th meeting | UAB leads the series 7-3
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HOW IT HAPPENED:
- Four points by Zakyia Weatherby and a three by Emily Klaczek allowed UAB to build an early 7-0 lead.
- Samford clawed back into the game with a 9-0 run to take a 9-7 lead with 5:28 to play in the first quarter. Natalie Armstrong had five of the nine for the Bulldogs during the run.
- After each team traded a basket, Maria Roters gave UAB the 12-11 lead at the 3:57 media timeout with a 12-foot jumper just outside the lane.
- The Blazers closed the quarter outscoring the Bulldogs 14-8, including eight from Margaret Whitley, as UAB led 21-17 at the end of the first period.
- The Blazers expanded the lead to nine, 26-17, with a 5-0 start to the second quarter.
- Andrea Cournoyer ended a 4:20 scoreless drought for Samford with a driving layup to cut the deficit to seven, 26-19, with 5:40 to play in the half.
- UAB got a pair of jumpers in the lane and a 3-pointer by Destinee McGhee to take a 33-19 lead at the 4:08 media timeout.
- Samford exploded for a 12-2 run over the final 3:29 of the second quarter to cut the UAB halftime lead to four, 35-31. Redmond had five of the 12 for Samford.
- The Bulldogs started the third quarter with a pair of 3-pointers by Redmond and Cournoyer to tie the game at 37-37 with 8:33 on the clock.
- After a Weathersby layup put UAB up one, Shauntai Battle's second 3-pointer of the ga,e gave Samford the 40-39 lead with 7:17 to play. It was Samford's first lead since 9-7 with 5:28 to play in the opening quarter.
- Weathersby and Roters with four points apiece pushed the Blazers to an 8-0 run to reclaim the lead 47-42 with 5:04 to go in the third.
- Samford put together another 10-0 run to put the Bulldogs back up 52-47 with 2:07 to play in the third.
- With the Bulldogs leading 54-51 to start the final period, Cournoyer gave Samford its largest lead of the game, 56-51 with 9:37 to play.
- Sussy Ngulefac's layup off an assist from Annie Ramil forced a UAB timeout as the Bulldogs extended the lead to 58-51 with 7:51 to go.
- As UAB's offensive woes continued, Armstrong's short jumper pushed the Samford lead to 10, 62-52, with 5:32 left in the fourth quarter.
- The Blazers answered with a traditional 3-point play by Weathersby and a deep 3-pointer by Whitley to slash the Samford lead to four, 62-58.
- Cournoyer's slashing layup kept the margin at five, 66-61, for Samford with 3:41 to go.
- Samford used a 6-0 run to extend the lead to nine before Weathersby's layup cut it to seven, 72-65, with 1:07 remaining.
- The Bulldogs closed out the win at the free throw line, making 5-of-6 in the final minute, to claim the 77-68 victory.
STATS OF THE GAME:
- UAB controlled the boards in the first quarter, outrebounding Samford 12-6, but the Bulldogs scored 10 points in the paint to the Blazers four.
- Samford shot 48 percent (14-of-29) from the floor in the first half with UAB managing 38 percent (12-of-32). The Blazers made six 3-pointers to Samford's two.
- Whitley led UAB with 11 points at the break while Cournoyer's 10 points paced Samford. Redmond also had nine points and a pair of assists at the break for the Bulldogs.
- The Bulldogs closed the game shooting 54 percent for the game while holding UAB to 38 percent.
- Samford scored 19 points off 12 UAB turnovers.
- Redmond, a 5-foot-6 freshman from Philadelphia, Pa., was 6-of-7 from the floor and 5-of-5 at the line to finish with a career-high 18 points for the Bulldogs.
- Cournoyer, who finished with 27 points, just missed out on a season-high with 27 points after making 12-of-20 from the field for Samford. The junior had 28 earlier this year at Southern Miss.
- Armstrong (12) and Battle (10) joined Redmond and Cournoyer in double digits. Ngulefac had eight points and six rebounds with Ramil adding six rebounds.
- Whitley finished with 18 points, six rebounds, and three assists for UAB. Klaczek also had 10.
BEYOND THE BOXSCORE:
- Sunday's victory was the first over UAB since the 2016 season.
- Samford and UAB were meeting for the 10th time on the hardwood Sunday with the Blazers owning a 7-3 edge after Sunday's loss. The two clubs last met on Dec. 3, 2019, as Samford fell 76-69 at UAB Arena. In fact, the Blazers have won the last three meetings between the crosstown rivals.
UP NEXT:
- Samford travels to Oxford, Miss., on Friday, Dec. 17, as the Bulldogs face the Ole Miss Rebels (9-1). Tipoff is set for 1 p.m. and the game will be broadcast on SEC Network+.
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