The Crimson Tide recorded its 10th straight win and 11th consecutive victory at home.
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – The Alabama women’s basketball team (12-2, 1-0 SEC) outlasted a late push from the Georgia Lady Bulldogs to take a 56-53 win in the Crimson Tide’s Southeastern Conference opener on Thursday.
A late 9-0 run by Georgia (11-4, 0-1 SEC) made it a one-possession game with just 40 seconds on clock. Alabama would go on to make 4-of-6 free throws over the final 20 seconds of the game to hold its lead and take a three-point victory over UGA. The win marked the first time Alabama has recorded back-to-back victories against the Bulldogs since the team defeated Georgia 68-64 in 1997 and 90-77 in 1998. In addition to tonight’s game, Alabama recorded a 74-62 victory in the 2022 SEC Tournament.
Brittany Davis and Hannah Barber combined for 29 of Alabama’s 56 points with Davis recording her 13th double-figure game this season off of a 17-point, nine rebound performance. Barber went 4-of-7 from distance to tie a season-high 12 points in the game as she added three assists and a steal to the night. Sarah Ashlee Barker tallied seven boards and three steals while Megan Abrams added three steals and two assists to the win.
Brittany Smith led Georgia with 17 points, four boards and three steals. De’Mauri Flournoy added 11 points and three steals while Javyn Nicholson recorded eight points, four boards and two steals in the loss.
Alabama Head Coach Kristy Curry Said
“Just really proud of our team. The first thing I really want to emphasize is the amazing crowd. What a great crowd, best crowd of the year, and I thought they were really pivotal to our success down the stretch. We need every single one of those folks to grab somebody and be back in here on the next home game. I just thought they were really, really special tonight. I want to thank everybody that came out. We had some teams in the building, some of our women leaders in the building, just a really good crowd. So, I want to start my presser by saying thank you from the bottom of our hearts. These kids deserve to have people in the stands and the way Bama Nation stepped up today was really, really important. We need them back in here for the next seven home games that we play in the SEC.
“Secondly, you know, just our team. It wasn’t pretty, I mean, Georgia makes you really play ugly. That zone is really, really good. They stay with it and it starts to wear on you. We obviously didn’t take care of the ball in the second half, but we made enough plays down the stretch. On Jada Rice’s free throws, she’s continued to get in the gym early and often and work on them. We outrebound them by 10. I just thought we made plays and that’s what really good teams do down the stretch and (I’m) really proud of our team. They all (games) count same, and it might have been a little ugly, but it was Roll Tide down the stretch. I’m really proud of our team.”
Game Stats
- Alabama recorded back-to-back wins over the Lady Bulldogs for the first time since UA won 68-64 on Jan. 5, 1997 and 90-77 on Feb. 8, 1998
- Hannah Barber tied a season-high 12 points off of a season-high four three-pointers in the game
- UA outrebounded the Lady Bulldogs 37-27 and limited a team that averaged 16.4 offensive boards a game to just nine
- Alabama held the lead since 6:31 in the first quarter, moving ahead as much as 15-points twice in the third quarter
- The Crimson Tide closed out the year with 10 consecutive wins
- UA advanced its winning streak at home to 11 games, which includes a perfect 8-0 performance in Coleman Coliseum this season
- Alabama was 35.3 percent from the field (18-of-51) as Georgia shot 44.7 percent (21-of-47)
- UA outscored the Lady Bulldogs from distance 8-1
How It Happened
- After an opening basket from Davis, Georgia scored six unanswered points to take a 6-2 lead (7:12)
- A three and a jumper from Aaliyah Nye jump started a 14-0 run to close the quarter and give Alabama a 10-point advantage (16-6)
- The Tide found its largest lead (28-14) of the half off a three-pointer from Barber and a pair of free throws from Davis with 4:17 to play in the second quarter
- UA would take a 13-point lead (31-18) heading into the break as Barber paced the Tide with nine points
- Alabama shot 40.7 percent (11-of-27) from the floor and 40 percent (4-of-10) from beyond the arc
- Georgia was 34.8 percent (8-of-23) from the floor and was 0-of-5 from distance
- A three-pointer from Davis gave the Tide a 15-point advantage as Alabama led 36-21 with 8:06 left in the third quarter
- The Lady Bulldogs would outscore the Tide 14-5 over the next six minutes to cut the lead to six (41-35)
- A three-point play from Jada Rice pushed the lead back out to nine but Georgia would make a free throw and a layup to trail 44-38 heading into the final stanza
- Georgia would come within five points (47-42) with 5:53 to play but a three from Davis and a pair of free throws from Barker gave Alabama 52-42 advantage (4:25)
- A 9-0 run by UGA made it a one-point game (52-51) with 40 seconds on the clock
- Alabama made 4-of-6 free throws in the final 20 seconds to outlast the Lady Bulldogs and take a three-point win
Next Up
- Alabama will celebrate the new year in Knoxville, Tenn., as the Crimson Tide faces Tennessee at 11 a.m. CT on Jan. 1
- The game will air live on SEC Network
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Source: Rolltide News
