Three Alabama women’s basketball players earned SEC honors today after being named to the All-SEC first and second teams and the SEC All-Freshman team.
Sarah Ashlee Barker, All-SEC first team
Senior guard Sarah Ashlee Barker stepped up her play in all facets of the game this season, earning her spot on the All-SEC first team. After averaging only 6.9 points last season, Barker finished this regular season ranked fifth in the SEC with 16.7 points per game.
This season, she scored a career-high 37 points against Kentucky on Jan. 28, but that is not where it ends for Barker. She had 24 double-digit scoring games and snagged 192 rebounds, the second highest on the team.
Despite earning a spot on the team composed of some of the best players in the country, Barker continues to say she couldn’t have done it alone — the same sentiment she has expressed all season.
“I quote-tweeted on my Twitter, and I was like, ‘It’s a team award,'” Barker said. “I really do mean that, because I don’t score the points that I score without having someone pass the ball.”
Aaliyah Nye, All-SEC second team
Fellow senior guard Aaliyah Nye also earned SEC honors, being named to the All-SEC second team.
The senior found most of her success this season in her 3-point shot. She broke the program record for most 3-pointers in a single season in the team’s win over Mississippi State on Feb. 25. She currently holds 104.
She is ranked third in the country in 3-pointers, only behind Iowa’s Caitlin Clark and Syracuse’s Dyaisha Fair, and leads the conference, averaging 3.4 a game.
Much like Barker, Nye attributes her success to her team and her coaches.
“They’re the people who are just there for us and push us every single day to get better,” Nye said.
Head coach Kristy Curry thought Nye’s success had to do with the guard’s character on and off the court.
“Aaliyah is just someone that, very few days does she just not show up [mentally] in practice,” Curry said. “She practices as hard as she plays. And I think her practice habits, her work habits, what she’s done in the classroom, to have a 3.9 [GPA] and be admitted to our MBA program. She’s just the epitome of a student-athlete.”
Essence Cody, SEC All-Freshman
Forward Essence Cody earned a spot on the SEC All-Freshman team, marking the first time since 2017 an Alabama freshman has received the honor.
Despite not even having an entire collegiate season under her belt, Cody isn’t a stranger to SEC awards. She’s been named SEC Freshman of the Week four times.
Cody leads not only the team but also all the SEC’s freshmen in rebounds, averaging 6.4 a game, and blocks, averaging 1.9.
Cody is the second-highest-scoring freshman forward in the SEC, averaging 8.1 points per game. She has scored in double digits in 10 games and had a career high of 16 points in the Crimson Tide’s game against Georgia on Jan. 11.
Cody, like her senior teammates, credited her achievement to her team.
“As a freshman, being a starter and having the confidence in my teammates and them having the confidence in me to start is an honor,” Cody said.
After the team’s win over Texas A&M on Sunday, which punched its ticket to the SEC tournament with a double bye, Alabama will play again on Friday in Greenville, South Carolina. The matchup can be streamed on the SEC Network.
