Dec. 16, 2008

Game Notes

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. - The Alabama women's basketball team returns to action in a rare weekday matinee game Wednesday, Dec. 17 when it hosts Florida A&M at 11:30 a.m. (CST). The game will serve as the Crimson Tide's annual 5th Grade Fastbreak event where fifth graders from all around Tuscaloosa are invited to attend the game as a class. With a recent loss to Middle Tennessee State, Alabama enters the contest at 6-3 on the season, while the Rattlers come into Wednesday's face off at 4-3 overall. The game will be broadcast live on the radio on the Crimson Tide Sports Network and will also re-air on WVUA TV at 7:00 p.m. (CST) that night.

"Playing this non-conference schedule and building some confidence at home is so important for us as we head into our SEC games," said head coach Wendell Hudson. "I think we have grown in a lot of situations so far this season. We still need to go out there and believe we are supposed to play and supposed to win. It's okay to go out there with a little swagger."

Alabama and Florida A&M:
Today's meeting is just the second in program history between the Crimson Tide and Rattlers. The two teams met for the first time on Nov. 28, 1986 in Atlanta where Alabama won 81-60.

Scouting Florida A&M:
Florida A&M stands at 4-3 on the season entering today's game. Last time out, the Rattlers met up with Florida where the Gators came out on top 77-55. The one similar opponent Florida A&M and Alabama have played thus far is UCF. The Rattlers fell to the Knights 71-69 in Orlando.

Leading Florida A&M in scoring is senior guard Deidra Jones who averages 15.3 points per game. Following closely behind Jones is senior guard/forward Stephanie Foster with 13.3 points per outing. Junior forward Denise Tate is responsible for the bulk of the rebounds averaging 9.3 per contest, while Jones leads the Rattlers in ball distribution with 3.7 assists a game.

Alabama and the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference:
Alabama has played just six MEAC schools in its history for a total of eight games. The Tide currently owns an unblemished record of 8-0 against MEAC opponents where Alabama averages a 34.9-point margin of victory. Of those eight games, four were played on neutral territory in tournaments. Below is a complete listing of Alabama vs. the MEAC.

Who to Watch:
Sophomore Daleisha Carn has been coming up big for the Tide lately in a variety of categories. She tallied a career-high 13 rebounds against UCF, followed by a career-best 13 assists against Sam Houston State, topped off by a season-high 13 points at Middle Tennessee State. Carn leads the team in assists with an average of 4.0 per game ranking her No. 6 in the Southeastern Conference. Her 13 assists against Sam Houston State ranks No. 1 on the SEC's individual player game highs ledger as well as No. 3 on the NCAA nation-wide individual player highs list.

Last Time Out:
Alabama dropped a hard-fought game to Middle Tennessee State Sunday 77-67 before a crowd of 5, 017 at the Murphy Center in Murfreesboro, Tenn. Sophomore Tierney Jenkins was Alabama's top point producer with 15 points, while classmate Daleisha Carn followed closely behind with 13. Junior Alysha Clark led Middle Tennessee State with 29 points. For the game, the Tide shot 42.6 percent from the field, while Middle Tennessee connected on 51.2 percent of its shots. Alabama's bench outscored the Blue Raiders 37-0. The big difference in the contest was at the free-throw line where Middle Tennessee made 29 of its 38 attempts. Alabama took 20 less shots from the charity stripe and finished the game 11-18.

Alabama Nearing 600th win:
Alabama is just five wins away from its 600th victory in program history. The Tide's overall record currently stands at 595-415. Alabama hit the 500-win mark on Jan. 28, 2001 with a 67-64 win over Ole Miss.

Lucky Number 13:
Junior Courtney Strauthers collected a career-high 13 points in Alabama's win over UCF on Dec. 3. That same night, sophomore Daleisha Carn pulled down a career-best 13 rebounds. In the Tide's next game against Sam Houston State, Carn dished out a career-high 13 assists. Carn then collected a season-high 13 points at Middle Tennessee State on Dec. 14.

Equal Opportunity Scorers:
In Alabama's nine games, four different players have led the Tide in scoring. Sophomore Tierney Jenkins has been Alabama's leading scorer four times, while sophomore Alyson Butler and freshman Ericka Russell have topped the Tide twice each. Sophomore Katie Hancock has led in point production once.

Strauthers Hitting Better than .500 for Career:
Junior Courtney Strauthers is currently averaging 53.8 percent from the floor for her career. She finished her freshman season at 51.3 percent followed by her sophomore year at 56.8 percent. She is 26-50 on the season thus far for a 52.0 clip.

Ericka Russell Voted to the Nugget Classic All-Tournament Team:
Alabama freshman Ericka Russell was one of six players named to the Nugget Classic All-Tournament Team. The squad was voted on by the four participating coaches. She finished the two-game Classic with 24 points, eight rebounds, two steals and two assists.

Put me in Coach, I'm Ready to Play:
In Alabama's games, a total of 14 players have seen court time. Eleven of those 14 players are averaging 10 minutes or more. Junior Dedrea Magee leads the way with 22.7 minutes per outing.

`Bama on the Boards:
The Tide has been dominant on the boards out-rebounding its opponents by an average of 7.9 per game while collecting a total of 47.4 per contest.

I'll Take my Bench over your Bench:
Alabama's bench scoring has accounted for an average of 37.7 points per game this season and 339 points overall. That is over half of the Tide's total point output thus far. Below is a list of how many points the bench has produced in each game:

Nov. 14, 2008 vs. Centenary - 28 points
Nov. 18, 2008 vs. Samford - 24 points
Nov. 22, 2008 at Hampton - 35 points
Nov. 25, 2008 vs. Alabama State - 52 points
Nov. 28, 2008 vs. Louisville - 43 points
Nov. 29, 2008 vs. Northern Iowa - 38 points
Dec. 3, 2008 vs. UCF - 36 points
Dec. 7, 2008 vs. Sam Houston State - 46 points
Dec. 14, 2008 at MTSU - 37 points

60 is the Magic Number:
In two of Alabama's three losses, the Tide has failed to reach the 60-point mark, but in all six of its wins has eclipsed that mark. Alabama is currently averaging 68.8 points per game. The last time the Tide averaged this many, or more, points a game was in the 2001-02 season when it collected 73.7 points per outing.

Tide Welcomes Six Newcomers:
A total of six new players will dawn the crimson and white this season for the women's basketball team. Carmen McCoy, Kayla Robinson, Ericka Russell and Candace Sykes all signed on nearly one year ago, while Danielle Hicks and Candiss Willingham were added as walk-ons.

Fresh Faces on the Sidelines:
Wendell Hudson returns to the sidelines after spending the last six years in administration to head up the Alabama women's basketball team. Hudson, who possesses 26 years of basketball coaching experience, is no stranger to Alabama as he was the first African-American scholarship athlete at the Capstone while playing under C.M. Newton. Joining him will be former Tide standouts Joni Crenshaw and Stacey Franklin along with Ty Evans, who enters his second season as a member of the Alabama staff.

Next up:
Alabama continues its five-game home stand Saturday, Dec. 20 against Austin Peay. Tipoff is slated for 2:00 p.m. (CST). The Lady Governors are currently 4-5 overall. Saturday's matchup will be the third meeting between the two programs. The Tide lead the series 2-0.