BIRMINGHAM, Al. – After leading by five at the half, UAB put together a 9-0 run to start the third quarter to pull away from UTEP on the way to a 65-49 win on Saturday afternoon in Bartow Arena.
After UTEP (14-12, 6-10 Conference USA) had held UAB (15-12, 8-8 Conference USA) without a point over the final 5:58 of the first half, the tides quickly turned in half number two, with Emily Klaczek drilling a triple on the first offensive possession for the home team.
The Blazers converted on two 3-point plays as part of their early second half run, with Klaczek scoring six of the points during the stretch and finishing the run off with a converted and-one with 8:20 left in the third, making the score 34-20 in favor of UAB.
In the second half, UAB built the lead to as many as 20.
The Miners were held in check from the floor in the third quarter, going 1-of-13 from the field as the Blazers outscored UTEP 19-7 over the 10 minutes.
Katia Gallegos was the leading scorer for the Miners on the day with 19 points to go with three assists, two rebounds and a steal. Elina Arike contributed nine points and Teal Battle had seven rebounds.
UAB was paced by the duo of Margaret Whitley and Klaczek. Whitley finished with 19 points and Klaczek 18. Whitley went a perfect 4-of-4 from the perimeter. Celebrating Senior Day, Zakyia Weathersby posted 16 boards.
The Blazers went 25-of-61 (41 percent) overall and 7-of-20 (35 percent) on 3-pointers. UTEP was limited to a 16-of-53 (30.2 percent) mark from the field and 3-of-14 (21.4 percent) on outside attempts. UAB won the boards 45-34.
UP NEXT
UTEP is back on the road at Rice on Thursday, March 3 at 6 p.m. MT/7 p.m. CT.
The game can be heard on the UTEP Miners app with Mando Medina calling the action. The contest will also be covered live on ESPN+.
For all things UTEP Basketball, click here; for our complete coverage of UTEP, click here.
