HUNTSVILLE, Ala. – Behind the strength of a strong long-range performance from the opposition, the University of West Alabama women's basketball team was upset by UAH 78-74 on the road Saturday night. The loss snaps UWA's 10-game winning streak and drops the squad to 14-3 (2-1 Gulf South Conference). UAH improves to 7-10 (2-2 GSC).
The setback is the first on the road this season for the Red and White.
LaShandra McCoy led the Tigers offensively as she scored 18 points despite only playing 15 minutes as she was in foul trouble for much of the affair. Mystee Dale and
Latashia Greer chipped in 14 for the visitors, and Suede Middleton added 11 to round out UWA's double-figure scorers.
UWA led through much of the first half of the opening period, opening up a six-point advantage at the 16:27 mark of the stanza, but the Lady Chargers responded by taking control of the rest of the half and gained the lead at 15-14 with 11:50 left.
The hosts led by as many as nine and went into the locker room with a 34-26 advantage.
The momentum swung back towards the Red and White in the second half, however, and the Tigers built up as much as an eight-point lead with 8:09 left in the game. The largest cushion of the night for UWA came after a 6-0 run that featured a pair of baskets from Dale who entered play second in the nation in scoring.
The Lady Chargers answered with a spurt of its own and retook the lead for good with 6:01 left in the contest. UAH used a strong performance at the charity stripe down the stretch to secure the victory as the squad did not connect on a field goal in the final 2:24 of play.
West Alabama had a pair of opportunities late to tie the game as it trailed by three but were unable to capitalize on two Lady Charger turnovers.
UAH connected on 13 3-pointers in the contest and were led by Andrea Bennett who sank six of her 12 tries from downtown. She finished the contest with 21 points to go along with 12 rebounds. Freshman Jasmine Hammon was also impressive as she scored 18 points and pulled down a game-best 16 rebounds.
West Alabama will look to rebound from the loss on Thursday with a contest against West Georgia in Carrollton, Ga. Tip is scheduled for 4:30 CST, and the game can be heard on ESPN 104.9 and www.espn1049.com.
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