🏀 Alabama’s WNIT Run Ends in the Quarterfinals with 76-66 Loss at Georgia Tech

[RTB X Bot]

 

[RTB X Bot]

 

[bama alum]

Yes, I know it's been posted previously, but it's worth saying again: Three of those wins were over tinersee.

 

[TerryP]

Yes, I know it's been posted previously, but it's worth saying again: Three of those wins were over tinersee.

Two. They've won three in a row, but only two this season.

 

[bama alum]

Two. They've won three in a row, but only two this season.

Yes, sorry. I sit corrected.

 

[PhillyGirl]

Woo! RTR!

 

[RTB X Bot]

 

[RTB X Bot]

 

[RTB X Bot]

 

[UA Press Release]

Jordan Lewis Scores Game-Winning Basket to Send Alabama Women’s Basketball to WNIT Round of 16


Crimson Tide advances with a 55-53 victory over Little Rock on Sunday


TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – Freshman Jordan Lewis grabbed the rebound off her own miss and put it back to score the game-winning basket with 5.1 seconds remaining to give the Alabama women's basketball team a 55-53 victory over Little Rock on Sunday in Coleman Coliseum. The win advances the Crimson Tide (21-13) to the round of 16 in the Women's National Invitation Tournament.

"We played a really good basketball team today," said Alabama head coach Kristy Curry. "I have a lot of respect for Coach Foley and his program and have for years. They just make it really hard. They do a great job of shortening the game and really executing. We were fortunate down the stretch to get enough stops. Our energy in the third and the fourth quarter was completely different than the first two quarters. I'll go back and try to work on that these next couple of days. This was just a fun game for our fans, and I appreciate everybody that came out."

Alabama was led in scoring and rebounding for the second straight game by junior Ashley Williams, who finished with 15 points and nine rebounds. She was joined in double figures by sophomore Shaquera Wade with 10. Lewis recorded seven points and added five rebounds, three assists and three steals, while fellow freshman Ashley Knight chipped in eight points, seven rebounds and five blocks.

The Trojans (25-9) were led in scoring by senior Sharde' Collins with 20 points, while senior Kaitlyn Pratt pulled down a game-high 10 rebounds.

Little Rock knocked down the first shot of the game and led throughout the quarter, pulling in front by as many as eight. With the Trojans leading 12-4, Alabama embarked on an 8-2 run to cut it to two, 14-12, at quarter's end.

The Tide continued its run in the second quarter and grabbed the lead at the 6:15 mark off a three from junior Quanetria Bolton. Little Rock responded with back-to-back threes and finished out the frame by scoring 18 of the next 24 points to lead 32-23 at the half.

Alabama scored four consecutive points to open the third, however the Trojans responded with 13 of the next 18 to take a 45-32 lead with 4:23 to go in the period. The Tide closed out the quarter on a 9-3 run to cut the Little Rock lead to seven, 48-41, with 10 minutes to go.

Alabama recorded eight unanswered to begin the fourth, taking a 49-48 lead at the 6:33 mark. The game would go back and forth for the duration with three ties and two more lead changes, including the final lead change that came on the Tide's last possession with the Lewis put-back. The Trojans used a timeout to advance the ball with 5.1 seconds to go, but they were unable to get a shot off before time expired.

For the game, Alabama shot 35.0 percent (21-60), while Little Rock finished at 40.4 percent (21-52) from the floor. The Tide outrebounded the Trojans, 38-35, holding a 15-8 advantage on the offensive glass. Alabama also outscored Little Rock in the paint, 38-10.

Next up, the Tide will host the winner of the game between Tulane and Grambling State on Thursday, March 23 at 7 p.m. CT.

"We need a great crowd in here Thursday," added Curry. "We need for the Crimson Tide fans to get behind this team and be here for us at 7 on Thursday night."

Jordan Lewis Scores Game-Winning Basket to Send Alabama Women’s Basketball to WNIT Round of 16

 

[UA Press Release]

Alabama Women’s Basketball Gears up for WNIT Rematch with Tulane


TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – The Alabama women's basketball team (21-13) will host Tulane (18-14) in the third round of the Women's National Invitation Tournament on Thursday, March 23. Tip is set for 7 p.m. CT at Coleman Coliseum. General admission tickets are on sale for $6 on RollTide.com, and the first 100 students in attendance will receive a free ticket courtesy of Coca-Cola.

THE BROADCAST
Thursday's game will be streamed on RollTide.com and can also be heard on the Crimson Tide Sports Network with Roger Hoover and Tyler Williams calling the action.

OPENING TIP
Alabama heads into Thursday's game with a 21-13 overall record after advancing past Little Rock in the second round, 55-53. The Crimson Tide is making its second straight appearance in the WNIT and sixth overall. Alabama also competed in the tournament in 2011 and in three consecutive seasons from 2000-02. UA holds an overall record of 7-5 in WNIT games.

Alabama and Tulane are meeting for the 12th time in the series on Thursday and the second year in a row in the WNIT. In the 2016 tournament, the Green Wave edged the Tide by one point, 53-52, in the first round on Tulane's home court.

The Crimson Tide reached the 20-win milestone on Thursday, March 16 in its victory over Mercer, marking the first time Alabama has won 20 wins in a season since the 1998-99 campaign.

Junior Ashley Williams has paved the way for Alabama in the WNIT, averaging a double-double of 17.0 points and 10.5 rebounds per game.

Freshman Ashley Knight set the Alabama single season block record on March 1 in the Tide's victory over Vanderbilt in the SEC tournament. Knight now has 85 for the season, which is already eighth most in a career. She's ranked 18th in the nation, and first in the SEC, in overall blocks and 23rd nationally and second in the league on blocks per game at 2.5.

Both junior Hannah Cook and Ashley Williams scored their 1,000th career point at the SEC tournament. Cook recorded hers in Thursday's game against Tennessee, while Williams followed up the next day in Friday's contest versus Kentucky.

Jordan Lewis was selected as the Southeastern Conference Newcomer of the Year by the Associated Press. She is the first freshman from Alabama to earn the award since its inception in 1997.

ABOUT TULANE
Tulane heads into Thursday's game with an 18-14 overall record and advanced to the third round of the WNIT with wins over UT Arlington (62-53) and Grambling State (66-49).

The Green Wave is led by junior Kolby Morgan and senior Leslie Vorpahl. Morgan averages a team-high 18.9 points and 5.6 rebounds per game, while Vorpahl chips in 11.8 points and 6.2 assists per contest.

Tulane nearly pulled off an upset over top-ranked UConn as the Green Wave fell by only three, 63-60, to the Huskies.

Tulane is under the direction of Lisa Stockton, who is in her 23rd season as head coach of the Green Wave and 26thseason overall as a head coach. While part of Conference USA, Tulane finished first in the league six times. Her squads have advanced to the postseason 18 times, including 11 trips to the NCAA tournament.

Women's Basketball vs. Tulane

Alabama Women’s Basketball Gears up for WNIT Rematch with Tulane

 

[bama alum]

BOOOOOOOOOOOOM!

Crimson Tide Women’s Basketball Rolls into WNIT Quarterfinals with 72-64 Win over Tulane

• BOX SCORE

64
TLN

72
UA
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 F
TLN 13 11 16 24 64
UA 23 10 19 20 72
Game Recap: Women's Basketball | 3/23/2017 10:11:00 PM

Crimson Tide Women’s Basketball Rolls into WNIT Quarterfinals with 72-64 Win over Tulane
Alabama advances to the round of eight for the second time in program history and first since it became a 64-team field

BOX SCORE VS. TULANE

• PHOTO GALLERY

• PRESS CONFERENCE

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – Junior Hannah Cookled four in double figures with 18 points on 70 percent shooting to lift the Alabama women's basketball team to a 72-64 victory over Tulane in the third round of the Women's National Invitation Tournament on Thursday at Coleman Coliseum. With the win, the Crimson Tide (22-13) advances to the quarterfinals for the second time in program history, and first time since it became a 64-team field, and will play at Georgia Tech on Sunday, March 26 at 1 p.m. CT.

"I appreciate our community," said Alabama head coach Kristy Curry. "What a great crowd on a Thursday night and we hope that everybody that was here will come back and see us in the future. We really appreciate them; so many coaches within the department, athletes and departmental personnel. It was great to see so many faces in the crowd, and again we really appreciate everyone's support. I'm really proud of our team for finding a way to win. Each one of them."

Joining Cook in double figures were fellow juniors Ashley Williams (15) and Quanetria Bolton (13) along with freshman Jordan Lewis (13). Williams and sophomore Shaquera Wade each chipped in a game-high eight rebounds, while Lewis finished with a game-high six assists. Freshman Ashley Knight added three blocks to bring her season total to 87. The Green Wave was led by junior Kolby Morgan, who scored a game-high 26 points, and senior Leslie Vorpahl, who chipped in 10 points, three rebounds, four assists and three steals.

Alabama got off to a hot start with back-to-back baskets in a 60-second span to lead Tulane (18-15), 5-0. The Tide pulled in front by 10 at the 5:17 mark, but the Green Wave would cut it down to four after scoring the next six points. From there, Alabama would outscore Tulane, 10-4, to close out the first and lead 23-13 at quarter's end.

The Tide continued to lead throughout the second quarter and didn't allow the Green Wave to get any closer than eight. Alabama would pull in front by as many as 12 and held a nine-point advantage heading into the locker room at the half, 33-24.

Tulane scored on consecutive possessions to start the third, cutting the Alabama lead down to six, but Bolton put up the next eight points in the game to push the Tide's lead out to 14, 41-27, at the 7:33 mark. Alabama held a double-digit lead throughout the rest of the period and led, 52-40, heading into the final quarter.

The Tide extended its lead to 17 early in the fourth, but the Green Wave used an 11-2 run to make it an eight-point game, 59-51, with 4:57 to play. The two teams went back and forth for the duration, trading buckets until time expired. Tulane would come no closer than six and Alabama would hit nine of its 10 free throws over the last 4:23 to seal the victory.

"We talked after the game about what we could take away and continue to learn from tonight, and I thought they had some great points," added Curry. "It was composure and little things as we went throughout each one. I thought that down the stretch, we had great composure against a very well coached Tulane team. My hats off to Leslie Vorpahl for a great career there, just an outstanding leader, you can tell. They are just a very well coached team and Lisa Stockton does a great job. We were fortunate to have a few more plays that we made."

For the game, Alabama shot 48.9 percent (23-47) while Tulane finished at 43.1 percent (25-58) from the floor. The Tide outrebounded the Green Wave, 39-27, and had 16 assists on 23 made baskets.

For all the latest information on the team, follow AlabamaWBB on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook. General athletic news can be found @UA_Athletics on Twitter and Instagram and Alabama Athletics on Facebook.

 

[RTB X Bot]

 

[TerryP]

 

[TerryP]

The ladies will beat a lot of teams if they continue with these numbers.

 

[bamabigdawg]

They are becoming really fun to watch yet they cant get any kind of coverage from any of the sportstalk around here. Opening drive this morning spent 4 hrs including a hour with Bryan Passink and didnt mention them even once. Hard to build a following or get better crowd support when your own talking heads dont care enough to even talk about the win last nite

 

[TerryP]

Hard to build a following or get better crowd support when your own talking heads dont care enough to even talk about the win last nite

There aren't that many that have been paying attention to what Curry has been doing the last few years. There's been a few times over the past few years I've pointed to what she was doing with the women, the fans, the students, and the boosters hoping Grant would follow suit. One of the things that impressed me the most about CAJ's first year in Tuscaloosa was how he was seemingly following the same path she had, the same path we've seen Coach Murph travel with the softball program.

It'll still take some time to get where Coach Curry wants this program—where we all want this program.

 

[alabama mike]

Glad to see the women getting back on the winning track. Good things are ahead for the Lady Tide.

 

[bamabigdawg]

There aren't that many that have been paying attention to what Curry has been doing the last few years. There's been a few times over the past few years I've pointed to what she was doing with the women, the fans, the students, and the boosters hoping Grant would follow suit. One of the things that impressed me the most about CAJ's first year in Tuscaloosa was how he was seemingly following the same path she had, the same path we've seen Coach Murph travel with the softball program.

It'll still take some time to get where Coach Curry wants this program—where we all want this program.

And i have no doubt she will get them there. Hell they are doing things this year that hasnt been done in forever in bama womens bb. I watched the game the other nite on Tidetv. Arena was basically empty but the people that were there were really into it and the announcers and CC herself made sure to point out the great crowd support they are getting. But with the talking heads around here its the same with the mens team. The monday after they beat USC on the road when they were #19 the only time it was mentioned was the obligatory 10 sec come back from break update. Rest of the time was spent talking about the OC search when there hadnt been news on it for over a week. Hell that was also the weekend of Osorios no hitter and school record 19 strikeouts and it didnt even get the 10 sec update. But then again we also have certain people on one of those sports talk shows that said he doesnt even consider gymnastics a sport so he will never talk about it

 

[BAMANEWSBOT]

CECIL HURT: Alabama women playing with swagger

You’d probably be stretching things a bit to call the Women’s NIT “March Madness.” That’s equally true of the men’s version. But whether you call it March Mildness or March Moderation, here’s the part that matters for the Alabama women’s basketball team at the moment.

It’s March.

It’s March and the Crimson Tide is still playing basketball and will keep playing into next week’s quarterfinal round after avenging last year’s WNIT elimination and bouncing Tulane, the team that eliminated them from last year’s WNIT, winning 72-64.

That makes three straight wins in March, regardless of whether they came in the WNIT or the UConn Invitational. That’s the sort of momentum Alabama needed, especially with this run piggybacked onto a solid two-victory effort at the SEC Tournament. That run — five wins in six games against quality opposition — sends a message about Alabama, not only to people watching from outside the program. More importantly, it resounds in Alabama’s own locker room.

“I definitely think they are playing with a lot more confidence,” Tulane head coach Lisa Stockton said after the game. “They shot the ball with more confidence. They had a different swagger. You could tell that on film coming in.”

Without doing what would be a fairly lengthy Google search, let’s make the fair assumption that the word “swagger” has not been used in conjunction with “Alabama women’s basketball” in quite some time. That has to be a confidence booster for a team without a single senior, one that has another infusion of talented transfers and recruits coming in next year. Plus, it generates interest at a rare time when the women have the basketball spotlight all to themselves.

The crowd at Coleman Coliseum wasn’t massive, but was enthusiastic. There’s something about the NIT atmosphere where the most passionate fans are in the seats closest to the floor that vitalizes the Crimson Tide’s home arena. (Again, that’s true for the men’s NIT games as well.)

“I really appreciate our community for the way they turned out,” Alabama coach Kristy Curry said. “What a great crowd on a Thursday night. There were so many coaches from our (athletic) department in the stands and it was great to see all those familiar faces pulling for it.”

Three weeks ago, Alabama’s underclassmen could easily have dialed down their intensity and given the old “wait until next year” shrug. Instead, they have decided to wring as much out of this season as possible.

“One thing you can control is your energy and effort,”Curry said. “I’m proud of how they have handled themselves. They’ve been an open book, kept learning. When things don’t go your way, it’s easy to get down on yourselves, and we had some things that didn’t go our way. But they came in every day ready to work and … we are playing our best at the end of the season.”

That is, they are playing that way in March. And while it may not be March Madness yet, that’s just the sort of boost that Alabama women’s basketball needs to make things even more exciting — maybe even Madness — next March.

CECIL HURT: Alabama women playing with swagger | TideSports.com