Alabama women’s basketball overcame another slow start on Thursday night and walked away with a 64-44 win over the McNeese State Cowgirls.
“Really proud of our team. I thought we stayed together when it got hard,” head coach Kristy Curry said. “We let the grittiness and toughness be our character down the stretch.”
It took half a quarter for either team to get going — the score was 4-0 at the midway point in the first — but the Cowgirls were the first to throw any significant punches.
Their up-tempo pressure was immediately evident, as Crimson Tide ball handlers who are accustomed to attacking downhill on pick-and-rolls were blitzed and forced to give up the ball. The pressure paid off when McNeese went on an 11-4 run. Alabama closed the gap to 13-9 to close the first, but the team clearly was struggling with the pesky and inexhaustible defensive effort.
The struggles only got worse to start the second quarter, as the Cowgirls pushed the score from 13-11 to 23-14 over the ensuing five minutes. At the mid-quarter timeout, the Crimson Tide had a nearly identical amount of turnovers and field goal attempts, with 13 and 14, respectively.
At that midway point, there was a glimpse of the factor that would wind up changing the game for Alabama: the zone defense. The team only played a couple of possessions, giving up a layup and forcing a turnover, but the seeds were planted. On offense, the Crimson Tide strung together a few solid trips to end the half and bring it to 29-25.
Alabama had already gained some momentum going into the half, but it took over the game coming out. The emphasis in the locker room was clear; from the first possession, the team went into the zone and never looked back.
The style of zone defense the Crimson Tide played is unique, morphing between a 2-3 and a 3-2 depending on the offensive formation. On-ball defense is played tight enough to have the effect of man-to-man, but defenders switch assignments enough to keep the advantages of a zone. The Cowgirls struggled to get into an offensive flow, shooting 1/8 from the field while putting up five 3-pointers, two more than they took in the entire first half.
“It’s a time of year where often a lot of teams spend more time on their man offense than they do their zone,” Curry said. “I thought it put them out of rhythm and out of sync.”
After trailing by 2 entering the quarter, Alabama finished the third up by 9, having won the frame 18-7. Forward Essence Cody scored 9 points in those 10 minutes, and the team overall went 5/8 from the field and 9/10 from the free throw line.
From there, it was all about game control for the Crimson Tide. The Cowgirls cut the deficit to 45-40 with 7:37 in the fourth, but after that the lead never went below 5. In a final quarter played more at Alabama’s run-and-gun tempo, the team pulled away and won 64-44.
Several players stood out in the victory. Senior guard Karly Weathers scored 14 points shooting 4/7 from 3. Cody was dominant, scoring a career-high 23 points, grabbing 11 rebounds and threatening to put up a triple double with a career-high six blocks.
“We see that every single day, so that’s what we expect,” Weathers said about Cody’s outing. “To know Essence Cody is my helpside — I love that. To also know that that’s the hands we’re putting it in offensively — I love that, too.”
Notably, freshman guard Ace Austin, who was the No. 1 recruit in the state of Alabama, played 29 minutes after missing Monday’s victory over Stetson with a quad injury. She wore an ankle brace but seemed comfortable physically.
The Crimson Tide will play next against Alcorn State at home on Monday. The game will tip at 6:00 p.m. and can be streamed on SEC+.
