Dec. 22, 2008

Final Stats

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. - The women's basketball team picked up its ninth win of the season Monday when it defeated Alabama A&M 76-65 in Coleman Coliseum. The Crimson Tide moves to 9-3 on the season, while the Bulldogs fall to 2-7 overall.

"This is one of those basketball games where we really did not play as well as we are capable of playing, without any question," said head coach Wendell Hudson. The team found a way to get it done and that's the important thing even when you don't have your A-game."

Leading Alabama on offense was sophomore Tierney Jenkins with 16 points. Jenkins also added eight rebounds and four steals. Three other Tide players recorded double-digit points with sophomore Varisia Raffington collecting 12 points and classmates Alyson Butler and Daleisha Carn each with 11 points. Senior Chaymieyon Moss led all scorers in the game with 19 points.

Just over one minute into the contest junior Courtney Strauthers buried a jumper putting Alabama on the board first. On the next possession Alabama A&M tied it up off a two-pointer of its own. The next five minutes of play saw five lead changes and two ties with neither team pulling in front by more than a single point. The Tide built a small buffer going ahead by six points with 11:40 remaining in the half. The Bulldogs came back and cut their deficit to one with 4:37 left on the clock, but Alabama put together a 13-3 run beginning with the next play to take an 11-point advantage, its largest of the first. The Tide would go into the break with the 34-25 lead.

Alabama A&M scored the first two-points of the second half off a layup from senior Ashleonte Samuel. The Bulldogs slowly worked at chipping away the Alabama lead and cut it to one, but Butler connected on a shot from beyond the arc to put the Tide out in front by four at 60-56. Alabama, then, forced back-to-back turnovers and scored on both for an eight-point edge. The Tide finished the contest on a 12-7 run to pick up its seventh win in Coleman Coliseum this season.

For the game, Alabama shot 45.6 percent and held Alabama A&M to 39.6 percent of its attempts. More impressively, the Tide shot 80.8 percent from the free-throw line including 12-13 in the second half.

"We've talked to this team about how we don't want to walk out of the gym feeling like we've left free throws out there, especially in close-game situations," added Hudson. "I am proud of the team's performance from the line in this game."

Once again, the bench came up big scoring 38 of the Tide's 76 points.

Alabama returns to the court on Monday, Dec. 29 when it hosts the Crimson Tide Holiday Classic featuring Ball State, Belmont, Richmond and Alabama. Ball State and Richmond will play in the 1:00 p.m. (CST) game, while Alabama and Belmont will face off in the 3:00 p.m. (CST) contest. The tournament will continue on Tuesday, Dec. 30 with the consolation game at 1:00 p.m. (CST) and championship at 3:00 p.m. (CST).

Alabama Head Coach Wendell Hudson Quotes

Opening Statement:
"This is one of those basketball games where we really did not play as well as we are capable of playing, without any question. The team found a way to get it done and that's the important thing even when you don't have your A-game. Sometimes, you're not going to have your best game out there. This time of the year, especially with a young team that is learning a new system and learning how to win in certain situations, it is more difficult to pull wins out. It really was good for this team to hang in there and get it done."

On free-throw shooting:
"We shot 92 percent from the free-throw line in the second half. We've talked to this team about how we don't want to walk out of the gym feeling like we've left free throws out there, especially in close-game situations. I am proud of the team's performance from the line in this game."

Alabama Sophomore Forward Tierney Jenkins

On finishing the game:
"We talk about finishing the game a lot. We talked about it at halftime. For us to be a good team, we have got to finish. We are about to start SEC play, so if we can't take leads over teams they are going to come back and beat us. That is definitely something we are trying to work on."

On what Coach Hudson said at the timeout:
"Coach Hudson wanted us to close the game. For us to be a good team we need to make big stops, so if it was forcing a turnover or Alyson (Butler) hitting a big shot, we just needed to keep the lead and stay in front."

Alabama Sophomore Guard Alyson Butler

On the different lineups Coach Hudson puts on the floor:
"Everyone is open to being able to contribute. There is not really any cattiness on the team. When someone needs to come in and step up he is fine with that."