Charlotte wins the series as the Blazers faltered down the stretch
It was back-and-forth between the Blazers and the 49ers, but the Blazers ended up on the wrong side of a 72-64 loss to end the game.
“Proud of our team’s effort and saw improvement from yesterday to today defensively,” head coach Randy Norton said of his team.
Senior center Zakyia Weathersby put her fifth straight double-double and eighth of the season with 22 points and 15 rebounds. Junior guard Margaret Whitley added another 19 points and six rebounds. The two again combined for over half of the team’s points
Charlotte was again led by junior guard Jada McMillian who had her own double-double with 23 points and 16 rebounds. Senior guard Olivia Jett-Wilson also contributed 16 points.
Charlotte took control to start the game with an 8-0 start, but UAB battled their way back through the first and cut the margin to two.
The second saw the score see-sawing between UAB and Charlotte as scoring slowed for both. UAB went into halftime with a slim one-point lead.
Coming out of the half, the Blazer led by as many as five, but a 12-2 Charlotte run at the end of the third put the 49ers back up top heading into the fourth quarter.
UAB would have their own 12-2 run to start the fourth and put themselves up with just over four minutes to go but faded down the stretch. Charlotte took the lead in the final minutes and did not look back.
It was a stronger defensive performance from the Blazers than yesterday. They limited the 49ers to six less points and two fewer field goals, but the team’s offensive struggles did them in.
Poor shooting, particularly from behind the three-point, hurt the Blazers down the stretch. In just the fourth quarter, UAB shot six three-pointers and made zero.
“We were right there with opportunities to win both games despite not shooting the ball well,” said. “I thought the biggest difference in both games is the last three minutes that they executed and did the things it takes to win games in crunch time.”
“As we told the girls, we go back to work Monday and work on getting better,” Norton said. “Take one day at a time and one game at a time.”
The Blazers return to action next Friday against Rice in Houston.
