Women’s basketball has taken its eighth game of the season in a decisive 88-46 victory over Coastal Carolina in front of 1,925 fifth graders and their teachers.
Alabama hosted the elementary schoolers in its annual Fifth Grade Fast Break, which guard Loyal McQueen hopes prepared the team for similar energetic environments.
“It felt great to be able to play in front of the kids today, the opportunity to be able to inspire someone,” McQueen said. “And I know they look up to us, so it was loud. But it definitely prepares us for those games that we’re going to have to play in front of a ton of people in loud environments. So, I had fun today.”
The Crimson Tide took an early lead over the Chanticleers, with guard Jessica Timmons making a jump shot to start the game for the team.
Alabama then went on an 8-point scoring run, led by forward Aaliyah Nye, with two layups and a 3-pointer, meaning Nye scored 7 points in less than three minutes. A free throw from Timmons made it the Crimson Tide’s second-best scoring run of the day.
Guard Sarah Ashlee Barker led the charge for the Crimson Tide’s offense, contributing seven field goals and 17 points.
The team’s goal for this game was to finish better than it had in its 79-73 loss against Syracuse.
“I did not play defensively at the level that I’m able to play,” Barker said. “So I think it’s just me being able to bring it every single night. And I didn’t do it against Syracuse, so I knew today that I needed to bring it and just trying to be consistent with it. And so that’s what I did.”
The team improved from multiple standpoints compared with its game against Syracuse; one critique head coach Kristy Curry pointed out in the game against the Orange was the lack of points from bench players.
The bench proved to be valuable, contributing 25 points compared with its previous 10 against Syracuse.
“This was another good test for us to try to respond from Syracuse,” Curry said. “I was pleased that we were able to finish plays in the third and the fourth better and at a higher rate than we did in the first and the second.”
Although the team improved its play from its last game, Coastal came into the second half ready for a fight. Despite the Crimson Tide keeping the Chanticleers at only 10 points a quarter in the first half, Coastal Carolina broke out and had 11 and 15 points in the third and fourth quarters, respectively.
The team settled the score with a field goal percentage of 49.2%, nearly 9 percentage points higher than its percentage against Syracuse, while also having 12 more rebounds, something Curry critiqued about the team’s performance against Syracuse.
McQueen emphasized that although she thinks the team can play well, finishing strong is what matters.
“It’s just about all about toughness, just getting to the rack,” McQueen said. “I think we all can get to the paint, but it takes another level of toughness to be able to finish. So I think we’ve done a lot of drills in practice on finishing, and we’ve been repping it out. So, the next couple of days, we’ll continue to do those and just continue to be tough when we get to the paint Saturday and Sunday.”
The Crimson Tide is set to return to Coleman Coliseum this Saturday at 2 p.m. CT to play Stephen F. Austin State University. The game will be broadcast on SEC Network+.
