No. 18 Alabama women’s basketball lost 88-80 Thursday on the road against No. 15 Tennessee.
“Our kids played so hard and competed,” Alabama head coach Kristy Curry said. “We just weren’t able to get enough makes down the stretch.”
Alabama relied on 3-point-shooting early. Guards Karly Weathers and Zaay Green each made a triple to start the game and quiet down the crowd in the Food City Center.
The Crimson Tide established a two-possession lead in the opening minutes of the first quarter, and the Volunteers took a timeout with 7:11 on the clock to regroup.
After the timeout, Tennessee went on a 9-3 run to tie the game before Alabama answered with two layups and a 3-pointer from guard Aaliyah Nye. Alabama closed out the opening period with a 22-17 lead.
The second quarter was full of game-changing runs, opening with an inside jumper and a triple from Tennessee, but Alabama responded with two buckets in the paint from forward Essence Cody and another 3-pointer from Green. After that, the Crimson Tide suffered a scoring drought that lasted nearly three minutes, and the Vols capitalized by going on a 10-0 run to take the lead.
Alabama was down 3 points with five minutes remaining in the first half. A pair of made free throws from center JeAnna Cunningham ended Alabama’s scoring drought, and guard Diana Collins drained a 3-pointer on the next offensive possession. Weathers stole the basketball 18 seconds later, and that led to another 3 from Nye.
In a dramatic turn of events, Tennessee responded by putting together another 10-0 run. Alabama trailed 42-37 at the conclusion of the second quarter, and the Crimson Tide was outrebounded by 13 in the first half.
“I thought we gave up too many offensive rebounds that led to kick-out 3s,” Curry said. “The margin for error is very small.”
Alabama and Tennessee opened the third quarter trading buckets inside the perimeter. Next possession, the Vols came back with a deep triple to push their lead up to 8, but Alabama’s Weathers matched it with a make from the corner.
Then the game took an ugly turn for the Crimson Tide.
Once again, Tennessee put together a devastating run, scoring 11 unanswered points. Alabama scrambled on the offensive end to try and keep up with the scoring barrage, but the team went over four minutes without scoring a single point. Curry called a timeout with 4:47 on the clock as her squad trailed by 16.
“[We] challenged our bench, but we were really bad,” Curry said. “Our bench has to help us as we move through the SEC.”
This was the largest score deficit of the game, but Alabama did not throw in the towel. The Crimson Tide went on a 7-0 to cut the Vols’ lead down to 9.
At the drop of a hat, either team could have taken control of the game. Gigantic momentum swings were the overall theme of the game, with Tennessee scoring 5 straight points to head into the final quarter leading by 14.
Green pushed the pace and converted two midrange shots, but the Vols matched each of them.
Shortly after, Cody began to shine the paint, scoring at the rim and sparking what appeared to be an Alabama comeback. Still, Tennessee was not budging.
That was until guard Sarah Ashlee Barker had an offensive explosion as the clock was under six minutes to play. Barker drove to the basket at will and scored layups on back-to-back offensive possessions. As the Tennessee defense tried to put all their focus on Barker, she passed the ball to a wide open Cody for a triple to make it a 7-point game.
Alabama had four minutes left to try to make some magic, and Barker continued to thrive on the offensive end. She scored another layup and buried a deep 3-pointer, cutting the deficit to 4.
The Crimson Tide had some life, but the Vols scored 5 points in a row, which ultimately squashed the comeback effort.
Despite the 8-point loss, Nye tied the program record for most made career 3s with 272.
“At the end of the day, it’s the amazing work that she’s put in,” Curry said. “Credit the amazing shooter’s mentality.”
All five Alabama starters finished in double figures, and to go with Nye’s career milestone, Barker passed 1,500 career points.
Alabama’s next game is at home against archrival Auburn on Sunday. The game will be broadcast on SEC Network at 4 p.m. CT.
