LIVINGSTON, Ala. – The University of West Alabama women’s basketball team forced the University of Alabama in Huntsville into 24 turnovers in an 81-76 win in Pruitt Hall on Saturday afternoon. UWA (7-10, 1-2) scored 18 of its season-high 81 points off the Lady Chargers (4-14, 1-3) miscues.

Valerie Harris paced the Tigers, tying a career-high, with 23 points. Omeshia Frost added 14 points, while Jenni Thomley supplied 12 along with 10 points from Keiara Middleton. Middleton and Harris tied for the team lead on the glass with six rebounds each.

After a 36-36 score at the break, UAH opened with a 6-2 run to grab a four point lead. It would be the largest deficit the Red and White faced the second half. The Tigers erased the UAH lead and knotted the game at 51-51 on a pair of free throws from Harris. Back-to-back field goals from Frost put UWA up 55-53 with 12:48 to play in the contest. A full court press and trap helped the Tigers push the lead out to 61-54 at the 10:24 mark. UAH trimmed the margin to 68-67 with just over five and half remaining, but it couldn’t overcome the Tigers lead, as UWA extended its margin to six points, 80-74, with 19 ticks on the clock.

The two in-state foes exchanged leads in the first five minutes of the contest, but a jumper by Frost gave UWA a 12-11 lead. The Tigers expanded the margin to as many as seven points on two different occasions. The Lady Chargers narrowed the margin to 20-19 on treys from Andrea Bennett, her only points of the night, and Ashley Boykin, who led UAH with 22 points. The Tigers again pushed out to a five point lead with 9:06 remaining before the break, but an 8-3 UAH run knotted the contest at 29-29 at the 4:17 mark. The score would be tied three more times during the final three minutes of the half.

West Alabama returns to action on Thursday, Jan. 22, as UWA hosts Valdosta State in the final game of the three-game homestand. Tip-off is set for 5:30 p.m. The game will be streamed over the internet on the B2 Network and live stats will be available at athletics.uwa.edu.