Dec. 17, 2008

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TUSCALOOSA, Ala. - The women's basketball team edged Florida A&M 70-68 in overtime Wednesday afternoon in Coleman Coliseum before a rocking crowd of 4,147. With the win, the Crimson Tide improves to 7-3 on the season, while the Rattlers drop to 4-4 overall.

"We didn't get nervous; we kept playing our basketball game," said head coach Wendell Hudson. Defensively, we didn't give up anything (in overtime). I'm proud of this team. They did an outstanding job of hanging in there and and just playing basketball."

Sophomore forward Tierney Jenkins led the Tide with 17 points and 10 rebounds, posting her first double-double of the season. Sophomore guard Varisia Raffington also scored in double digits with 10 points and dished out two assists. Junior guard Dedrea Magee led Alabama in assists with four. The Rattlers were led by Stephanie Foster with 17 points and seven boards.

Florida A&M struck first scoring the first points of the game 15 seconds in. Raffington quickly responded with a jumper to tie the game. Sophomore Katie Hancock gave the Tide the lead at 12-11 with a layup off an assist from Daleisha Carn. Sophomore guard Alyson Butler drained a three-pointer with six minutes to go in the first half to give Alabama the lead at 22-19. The Rattlers responded with a three-pointer of their own to tie up the game at 24-24. Jenkins sank a free throw with 30 seconds left to give the Tide the one point advantage going into the break.

Raffington started off hot for the Tide in the second half draining back-to-back jumpers to give Alabama the 33-28 lead. Freshman guard Ericka Russell sank two free-throws to give the Tide a five point lead at 37-32. A layup by Florida A&M tied the game at 41-41 with a little under six minutes left on the clock. Jenkins knocked down two free throws to keep the lead at five for Alabama. The Rattler's overcame the five-point deficit and a three-pointer by Deidra Jones got Florida A&M within one point. Qiana Donald then sank a free throw to tie the game and send it in to overtime.

The Rattlers scored the first four points of overtime before Russell hit a three-pointer to get Alabama within one. Junior forward Courtney Strauthers made a layup while being fouled then hit the free-throw to give the Tide a two point lead at 63-61. Magee knocked in a free throw with one second left to give Alabama a two-point lead and the win.

Alabama held Florida A&M to under 35 percent from the field for the game and under 28 percent from behind the arc. Alabama shot 33 percent from the field and 72 percent from behind the free throw line. The close contest saw 21 lead changes and 13 ties. The Tide bench had another stellar game contributing 33 points.

Next up, Alabama returns to Coleman Coliseum on Saturday, Dec. 20 to face Austin Peay. Tipoff is scheduled for 2:00 p.m. (CST).

Head Coach Wendell Hudson Quotes:

On Dedrea Magee stepping up late to lead the team:
"We always talk about that group of people (the starters), that it's more than five people we consider starting for us. She's playing really well and really well late in the game. Actually in the first half, I thought she gave us a big boost and was really playing well. She stepped up and did some really good things. We've just got to remind Dedrea that the game is on the line all the time. This is the second or third time that when the game is on the line, she steps up. We just have to get her to play like that all the time."

On the team mindset before starting overtime:
"I don't think anybody was nervous and that's the keyword I think. You look in their eyes and everybody is like `we can get this thing done'. To show you how good we felt, we gave them two points to start the overtime to make sure we can get it done. We just wanted to make a competitive game exciting."

On how the team kept composed after giving the other team two points to start overtime:
"We didn't get nervous, we kept playing our basketball game. Defensively, we didn't give up anything. We didn't quit playing or put our heads down. That's an easy thing to have happen, to get your head down. You scored two points for the other team to start the overtime, so you're down two. They came down and made another basket and all of a sudden, you're down four or five points and it's easy to get your head down. I'm proud of this team, they did an outstanding job of hanging in there and and just playing basketball."