Dec. 7, 2008

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TUSCALOOSA, Ala. - The women's basketball team defeated Sam Houston State 90-50 Sunday, Dec. 7 at Coleman Coliseum marking the first time the Crimson Tide has reached 90 points since Dec. 2, 2006 against Savannah State. With the win, Alabama moves to 6-2 on the season, while the Bearkats drop to 1-7 overall.

"I thought our entire team, from the bench to the ones who were out there playing on the court, did a good job of keeping their energy up for the whole game." said head coach Wendell Hudson. "We've got to worry about what Alabama can do and what we have control over. What we have control is that we play hard every night."

Sophomore guard Daleisha Carn was three rebounds shy of a triple double with 13 assists, 10 points and seven rebounds. Sophomore forward Tierney Jenkins led all scorers with 13 points and pulled down seven boards. Freshman Britni Martin led the Bearkats with 11 points and five rebounds.

"I feel really good about the game." said Carn. "We just tried to get everyone open and on the board. We wanted to make plays happen. I feel like we are very capable of being a good basketball team and getting everyone in the mix."

The Bearkats got on the board first with a jumper about three minutes into the game. Sophomore Katie Hancock drained a shot 14 seconds later to tie the game and spark an 18-0 run to give Alabama an early lead. The Tide stayed strong throughout the first half, and two back-to-back three pointers by sophomore Alyson Butler put Alabama on top 30-10. Jenkins scored the last four points of the first to give the Tide the 42-18 lead heading into the locker room.

Sophomore Varisia Raffington kept Alabama rolling in the second half with a quick three pointer at the 19:43 mark. The Tide scored the first ten points of the second half to extend its lead setting the score at 52-18. Freshman Kayla Robinson put in a layup at the 9:31 mark to give Alabama a 35-point lead at 65-30. The Tide's largest advantage of 42 points came with 1:21 remaining in the game when freshman Carmen McCoy connected on a pair of free throws. McCoy hit a jumper for the contest's final bucket giving Alabama the 90-50 win.

The Tide had a shooting percentage of above 45 percent from the field in both halves and finished the game at a 45.6 percent clip. Alabama held Sam Houston State to 26.7 percent from the field for the game and 21.7 percent from behind the three-point line.

Next up, the Tide travels to Murfreesboro, Tenn. to face Middle Tennessee State on Dec. 14. Tipoff is scheduled for 4:00 p.m. (CST).

Alabama Head Coach Wendell Hudson Quotes

Opening Statement:
"This team is learning how to put teams away. You might look at it and say `Alabama should beat Sam Houston', but there's a way you should beat them also. If you're going to take your team and make steps and strides towards being a really good basketball team, you've got to go out and play regardless of who you're playing against and regardless of what the score is. We played the same way, and I think the team took some really big steps in the second half."

On the play of Daleisha Carn today:
"She didn't play but 18 minutes, but she did a good job and we had a lot people playing. Daleisha really did a good job passing the ball with 13 assists and two turnovers. We talked about it because she had eight turnovers the last game, but she's cleaned up a lot of things as far as handling the basketball and started for us tonight. She did an outstanding job.

On dominating scoring in the paint:
"We love to get the ball inside, and even though you get inside, you have to hit your shots. I thought some of the players really did a great job. I thought there was some great passing."

On the team's energy level throughout the game:
"I thought our entire team, from the bench to the ones who were out there playing on the court, did a good job of keeping their energy up for the whole game. We've got to worry about what Alabama can do and what we have control over. What we have control is that we play hard every night."

On playing Middle Tennessee State:
"We're looking forward to playing against a quality team like Middle Tennessee State. I think that going on the road, this team has been able to go out there and play and eliminate some of the distractions sometimes you have at home."