The Alabama women’s basketball team has some momentum to aid in its return home Thursday night. The Crimson Tide (14-4, 3-2 SEC) will take on the Texas A&M Aggies on the heels of two consecutive league wins on the road. The game will be at Coleman Coliseum, where Alabama has won all but once this season.  

On Sunday afternoon, the Crimson Tide secured a big win against Ole Miss without the presence of its two best scorers, Brittany Davis and Megan Abrams who didn’t play due to injuries sustained on Jan. 8. Junior guard Sarah Ashlee Barker anchored the offense in their place alongside junior guard Loyal McQueen and graduate student center Jada Rice, who had a double-double in the 63-58 win.  

Alabama head coach Kristy Curry said the team was happy to be home and that they must take its growth mindset into each SEC game.  

“[It’s important to have] a sense of urgency, a sense of understanding how important each and every one of our SEC games are, to take that same consistent growth mindset approach that we’ve been taking and to build on Sunday will be really important,” Curry said. 

“We knew going into Ole Miss that it was going to be tough because of [Davis] and [Abrams] being out,” McQueen said. “We knew all of us just had to step up and bring a little bit more to the table.”  

Regardless of whether Davis and Abrams play on Thursday, the players will have to rise to the challenge. The Crimson Tide has dealt with injury concerns before and asked a lot from players to fill those roles.  

The two players’ presence on Thursday will be a game-time decision.  

“We have so many people on any given day that can really rise above anything they need to do,” Curry said. “Even give a little more. They’ve done that.”  

The Aggies (5-11, 0-6 SEC) are struggling in conference play, and have yet to pick up a league win. Texas A&M is mired in a losing streak of seven games. The last four of those defeats came by double digits. The Aggies have not won a true road game.  

“We can’t take any game for granted,” graduate student guard Hannah Barber said. “We’ve kind of tried to have the same approach, regardless of the opponent, regardless of the location, of just making sure that we have two good days of prep and get to the game ready to compete.”  

“They have our utmost respect,” Curry said. “I don’t think there’s anybody in our locker room that’s looking at anything other than a sense of urgency … This is an important time of year — we need to grab every opportunity.” 

That opportunity is set to be contested in a place that’s been kind to Alabama this season, its home court. Tipoff for the game is scheduled to be Thursday, Jan. 19, at 6 p.m. CT.  

Questions or comments? Email Blake Byler (Sports Editor) at [email protected]