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Lady Tide Defeats Volunteers 54-46 In Women's Basketball
Celebration Time!
Photo Credit: RollTide.com
March 3, 1984.
February 25, 2016.
Those are the last two times the Alabama Crimson Tide women's basketball team defeated SEC power Tennessee.
A 42-game losing streak came to an end last night as the Alabama women's basketball team (15-13; 4-11 SEC) defeated the Tennessee Volunteers 54-46 on Senior Night inside Foster Auditorium on the UA campus. This is the first victory in program history for Bama in the series with the Vols at home.
Alabama women's head basketball coach KRISTY CURRY was exuberant, as would be expected. She said, "I'm proud of the effort tonight. It was a special night for our seniors. That's how a team is supposed
to play on Senior Night. We've led in six SEC games in the fourth
quarter and couldn't finish. I was really proud for our kids tonight to
be able to finish this one. This qualifies us for the postseason, and
I'm really happy about that for a lot of reasons."
The Tide played their hearts out, and the defense came through in a really big way by holding the Vols to just 26.1 percent in shooting from the floor for the contest. Tennessee was 0-11 from beyond the arc.
The Lady Tide led 28-17 heading into the locker room at half time, and showed that adjustments made has them more than ready for the second half. The coaches had an excellent game plan and the team came through with the execution.
Alabama was 18-51 (35.3 percent) from the field and brought down 45 rebounds on the night. Tennessee did have one more rebound on the evening, edging the Tide with 46. The ladies coming off the bench played a large roll in the victory last night, with Bama picking up 18 points compared to only two for Tennessee.
Leading the Crimson Tide in scoring was KARYLA MIDDLEBROOK with 13 points, with HANNAH COOK pumping in 10 points and hauling in 10 rebounds for a double-double. NIKKI HEGSTETTER had seven points on the night with eight rebounds. BREANNA HAYDEN had nine points and four rebounds on the night.
Hegstetter commented, "Having the atmosphere of the crowd and everything was great. The people that come up to me after the game and say,
`You've changed my life, and you are a great mentor for my daughter.'
That's what I do it for, so it's been a great night. I don't want it to
end, so I don't think I will go to sleep until 2 or 3 in the morning
just so it doesn't end."
The Lady Tide heads to Starkville, Mississippi for the next contest to do battle with number 16 Mississippi State in the final regular season game. Tip off is at 1:30 p.m. CT and will be streamed live on SEC Network+.
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Tide Gymnastics To Host Georgia Tonight
The third-ranked Alabama Crimson Tide gymnastics team will close out its regular season home schedule tonight when they host the 10th-ranked Georgia Bulldogs at 7:30 p.m. CT in Coleman Coliseum. The Tide is 13-1 against the Dogs over the past six years.
Tonight is also the start of Alabama Gymnastics' Alumni Weekend. A big crowd of past team members are expected to be on hand for the festivities and to cheer on the current team.
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Women's Tennis Plays Princeton Today
The 28th-ranked Alabama women's tennis team (3-3) begins play today at the 2016 Blue Gray National Tennis Classic in Montgomery, Alabama. The event will be held at the Lagoon Park Tennis Center and the O'Connor Tennis Center February 26-27. Alabama will take on Princeton today at 10 a.m. CT in the opening round.
