Alabama women’s basketball narrowly made it to a double bye in the SEC tournament and ended its regular season with a 23-8 record after a final 78-71 road win over Texas A&M.
Alabama came into the contest ranked No. 5 in the SEC, searching for the win it needed to take the No. 4 position and a double bye in the SEC tournament.
Head coach Kristy Curry attributed this accomplishment to the nonstop work ethic of her players.
“We were picked ninth and finished fourth,” Curry said. “So it’s a credit to these kids and our staff. … Everybody’s sore, tired, exhausted. Everyone has an excuse, but this group has been unbelievable with no excuses, and it’s just been a response with effort and energy and continuing to get better. So I’m so proud of them.”
Guard Sarah Ashlee Barker managed another impressive evening, scoring a game-high 29 of the team’s 78 points, alongside guards Jessica Timmons, Aaliyah Nye and Loyal McQueen, each of whom totaled points in the double digits.
The game started with a back-and-forth battle between the Aggies and the Crimson Tide, with forward Essence Cody finding a layup to start the scoring.
Texas A&M guard Aicha Coulibaly matched Cody’s effort with a layup of her own.
The action proceeded in this order for almost half of the first quarter before an 11-point scoring run by Alabama left the score at 17-8.
The second quarter played out similarly, with a 17-2 scoring run for the first seven minutes, interrupted only by a layup from Aggie forward Janiah Barker.
Coming out of the first quarter, Alabama held a 12-point lead over Texas A&M.
Much like Alabama’s game against Florida on Thursday night, the Aggies made a late-stage comeback toward the end of the third quarter.
The Aggies drove a 16-4 scoring run that brought the game uncomfortably close for the Crimson Tide; a 3-pointer by guard Tineya Hylton brought the game to 1 point, and a layup by Janiah Barker turned the tide in favor of the Aggies by 1 point.
The Crimson Tide combated this pursuit with an uninterrupted 9-point scoring run of its own to bring the game to a more comfortable 68-63 lead.
From then on, the Crimson Tide kept the win just out of reach of Texas A&M. With only 43 seconds left in the game, the Aggies continued to foul and gave Barker, Timmons and McQueen seven free throws.
Although Curry wasn’t satisfied with the ending stretch of the game, she couldn’t help but admit how important the game was to her.
“It was a really special win tonight, 10 wins and the opportunity to go in having a double bye,” Curry said. “I’m not satisfied, but I love the way we finished SEC play on the road.”
Thanks to this win, the team has earned its spot as fourth in the SEC and will not play again until Friday.
