SEC play has been up-and-down for No. 19 Alabama women’s basketball, with the Crimson Tide going 5-4 in the first nine games. Here is the good, the bad and the ugly from the Crimson Tide so far during conference play.
The good
Response to adversity. Right away, in the team’s first conference game against Florida, the Crimson Tide faced a major roadblock when guard and leading scorer Sarah Ashlee Barker went down with a lower leg injury. She didn’t return to action for the next five games.
Despite that, the team showed a strong response and won the Florida game. It went 4-2 in the six games without Barker, including road wins over Ole Miss and Arkansas.
“One of the greatest teaching moments we have in sports is teaching how to respond from adversity,” head coach Kristy Curry said. “The really great teams have that ability to have a short-term memory and move on.”
Barker’s return. In her first game back after a three-week long absence due to her injury, Barker immediately knocked off the rust and scored a career-high 36 points in the 66-64 loss to Vanderbilt. She also added nine rebounds, three assists and four steals and played 39 out of a possible 40 minutes.
Barker has averaged 22.3 points, 6.7 rebounds, 4.0 assists and 2.0 steals per game in three games since coming back from injury, while shooting a notably efficient 60% from the field and 54.5% from 3-point range. She also dished out a career-high nine assists in the 72-57 win over Georgia on Sunday.
“She’s worked so hard to get back,” Curry said. “The most important thing was that she was ready and it was best for her.”
Efficient 3-point shooting. This team’s strength heading into conference play was its ability to shoot from downtown. That success has continued into conference play, as the 36.2% mark from 3-point range in the nine games is good enough for fourth in the SEC.
The success has been a group effort, as five different Crimson Tide players are shooting at least 35% on 3s. The 3-point game is crucial to the team’s success, shooting at least 33% in the team’s five wins but converting on just 31% or lower in the four losses.
The bad
Free throw issues. One thing that seems to be holding Alabama back from being an elite offensive team is the difficulty of getting to the free-throw stripe and converting those opportunities. The 15.3 attempts and 65.9% free-throw percentages in conference play rank dead last in the SEC.
The ugly
The Vanderbilt game. Barker scored a career-high 36 points, yet Alabama still lost at home, which is unsettling. Even though the team did lose by 44 to Texas, it’s easy to argue this was the Crimson Tide’s worst loss of the season, especially from an effort standpoint.
Nobody seemed to be helping Barker out on the offensive end, as the next highest scorer, guard Zaay Green, only had 8 points. Curry attributed this to players “standing and watching” and not helping Barker out. Turnovers were similarly massive, as the team had 23 overall in the game, and Green had 11 of her own. She also picked up a crucial technical foul in the fourth quarter.
Another problem seemed to be a lack of effort. Alabama only got to the free throw line six times, while Vanderbilt had 21 opportunities, and the Crimson Tide had only seven offensive rebounds compared to 20 for Vanderbilt. It felt like a game where the team had almost a complete collapse, and Curry hopes the result doesn’t repeat itself anytime soon.
“This is one of those moments where I’m baffled at our energy and effort,” Curry said. “Whatever it was about this game, it needs to change very quickly.”
Alabama will now travel to Gainesville to play Florida on Thursday at 6 p.m. CT. The game can be streamed on the SEC Network.
