Box Score
HUNTSVILLE, Ala. – The University of Alabama in Huntsville women's basketball team dropped its first home contest of the year, falling 81-77 to rival North Alabama on Saturday evening at Kelly Court at Spragins Hall. The loss snapped a 12-game winning streak for the Lady Chargers when playing on its home court.
After Saturday's contest, UAH falls to 21-5 on the season and 11-3 in the Gulf South Conference while UNA improves to 14-12 overall and 4-10 in league play.
UAH led early in the contest, 14-9, at the 16:29 mark in the first half and held the advantage until North Alabama went on a 7-0 run at the 11:08 to take a 26-21 lead.
After junior
Natalie Kelley laid in a shot to cut the deficit to one point with 4:52 remaining in the opening frame, UNA came up with another run as the Lions used a 12-0 run to close the half and take a 46-33 lead into the break.
The Lady Chargers scored the first seven points of the second half, bringing themselves to within six points, 46-40. UAH's best run of the year, however, began at the 15:05 mark with a jumper by sophomore
Jasmine Hammon to cut UNA's lead to eight points.
Over the next three minutes and 27 seconds, UAH held the Lions scoreless while pouring in 18 points of its own. After the run, over which the Lady Chargers shot 7-of-8, including 3-of-3 from downtown, UAH held a 59-51 advantage with 11:38 to go in the contest.
UAH led by as many as nine points at the 10:36 mark, but UNA continued to chip away and regained the lead for good with two minutes left. The Lady Chargers trailed by just one point with 31 seconds left in the game but UAH couldn't take back the lead as UNA made three free-throws to win 81-77.
Sophomore
Jordan Smith finished the night with a game and season-high 29 points, just three points shy of her career-best. Hammon poured in 17 points while junior
Morgan Duncan added 15 in the contest.
The Lions connected on 51.9 percent (28-of-54) from the field over the course of the game, including a remarkable 61.5 percent in the first half. UAH found the bottom of the net on 37.7 percent (16-of-69) of its shots, while also sinking 39.3 percent (11-of-28) from beyond the arc.
UNA out-rebounded the Lady Chargers by a margin of 43-36, though UAH grabbed 11 offensive boards while limiting UNA to just five offensive rebounds.
The Lady Chargers will play next in the GSC Tournament as the No. 2 seed. The tournament will be contested in Niceville, Fla., at the The Arena on the campus of Northwest Florida State College. The quarterfinals are slated to tipoff on Thursday, March 1, at 12:30 p.m. CST.
