Box Score HUNTSVILLE, Ala. – Taking over sole possession of the top spot in the Gulf South Conference standings, the University of Alabama in Huntsville women's basketball team (12-2, 3-0 GSC) knocked off Valdosta State (11-3, 2-1 GSC) by a score of 73-69 at Spragins Hall on Thursday evening. With the win, the Lady Chargers matched the best start in program history set by the 1982-83 squad that finished its campaign at 27-8.
In addition, with just its third victory over the Lady Blazers in the previous 10 contests between the two schools, UAH moved to 3-0 in league play for the first time in school history since joining the conference in 1993. It is also the first time the Lady Chargers have defeated VSU two consecutive times since winning the second contest during the 2002-03 season and first game in 2003-04.
“I couldn't be more proud of my kids than I am tonight,” head coach Roy Heintz said. “We feel like we have a great team. One of our themes for the year is to be competitive, be relative and make history and now we've done it, just for one night. We're going to enjoy it and then we want to keep this thing rolling.”
Sophomore
Jordan Smith led a trio of Lady Chargers scoring in double digits with a team and season-high 26 points. Fellow classmate
Jasmine Hammon and junior
Bailee Robinson added 19 and 14 points, respectively. Hammon moved into 19th on the all-time scorers list in program history with 728 points.
While the first half was a battle for either team to take any advantage, both team's had chances to pull away. UAH's largest lead was five in the opening frame while VSU held as much as a nine-point lead with 6:49 left before the half. The Lady Chargers headed to the lockerroom trailing by six points, 44-38, at the half.
Valdosta State extended its lead to 13 points over the opening 5:23 in the second half and looked to be pulling away. However, a 17-4 run by the Lady Chargers tied the game at 58-58 with 8:42 remaining. From there, it was all UAH as the squad moved out to as much as an eight-point lead en route to a 73-69 victory.
UAH held the advantage shooting from the field, connecting on 43.1 percent (22-of-51) of its shots on the night while VSU connected on 38.7 percent (29-of-75). After shooting 51 percent in the first half, the Lady Blazers were held to just 25 percent from the field in the second half.
The Lady Blazers were led by two players recording the game's only double-doubles. Brittany Ferguson poured in a game-high 27 points to go with a game-high 19 rebounds while Courtney Mitchell combined 13 points and 10 rebounds.
Up next, UAH rounds out its three-game home stint with a contest against conference-foe West Florida on Jan. 14. Tipoff at Spragins Hall is slated for 5 p.m. CST.
