Riding the wave of a high-efficiency second half, Alabama took an 84-45 win over Samford on Wednesday night. The Crimson Tide outscored the Bulldogs 52-18 in the final two quarters.
Samford came into the game 2-2, with wins over mid-major foes Montevallo and Florida A&M but losses against Power Four opponents Nebraska and Florida by a combined 71 points. Alabama, after a week off following a blowout win over Alcorn State, beat Alabama A&M on Monday night and came into this matchup with only a two-day turnaround.
Whether it was the short rest or simply a hyper-focused Bulldog team, the Crimson Tide looked vulnerable early on. Samford led at the end of the first quarter, with Alabama failing to capitalize on a period where the 3-point-heavy Bulldogs went 1/6 from deep and committed five turnovers.
The most notable aspect of an uninspiring first half was the Crimson Tide’s scoring drought, which lasted over half of the second quarter. After forward Essence Cody hit a layup with 5:19 to go and made it a 31-16 game, Alabama did not hit another field goal for the rest of the period. Freshman guard Ace Austin went 1/2 from the free throw line with 2:09, but otherwise the team scored no points in that span, which lasted over 10 minutes of real time. The score was 32-27 going into the break after an 11-1 Samford run to finish it out.
What’s perhaps more worrying is that this isn’t the first time the team has gone through such a cold spell. Against Alcorn State, the Crimson Tide similarly went almost the entire latter half of the second quarter without a field goal. It didn’t cost the team then and ultimately didn’t matter on Wednesday, but it’s something to monitor.
“I loved our shot selection. I just thought we missed some wide-open looks,” head coach Kristy Curry said. “As coaches, I don’t think we’re ever pleased. There’s a lot of things that I focus on to put them in a better position to not have those scoring droughts.”
Things shifted in the third quarter once again for Alabama, which went on an immediate 11-0 run to begin the half and forced a Samford timeout with 7:56 to go. The difference between this and the first half was that the team never let the Bulldogs claw their way back into the game. With a combination of quality shotmaking and ramped-up defensive intensity, the Crimson Tide widened the gap and finished the third quarter up 64-34.
The final period demonstrated the driving factor behind this game — Alabama boasts a more imposing athletic profile and put far more pressure on the rim than Samford. The Crimson Tide shot 53% from the field to the Bulldogs’ 29%, largely due to winning the points in the paint battle 34-12.
That isn’t to say the team didn’t get hot from deep. Led by Austin’s 4/8 showing on 3-pointers, including 3/5 in the second half, Alabama finished the game with a notably high 50% clip on 24 attempts.
Austin was the high point of the game, putting up 21 points and five assists in 29 minutes off the bench. The scoring was evenly distributed otherwise, as four other Crimson Tide players reached double digits.
“We’ve constantly been talking about ball movement. I think that shows what a team is — you’re not going to win with just one person on the floor,” Austin said.
Cody wasn’t able to lead the way in scoring in large part due to the presence of 6-5 Samford center Emily Roddy, who made it difficult for Cody and the other bigs to get their normal paint touches. Their looks instead came off putbacks and dumpoffs on drives.
“It’s great to see a true five. Sometimes that’s hard against midmajor teams,” Curry said about Roddy and how bigs of her size prepare the team for conference play. “I thought we did a really nice job on her and really scored in the paint.”
Alabama will next play Monday against Harvard in the Baha Mar Pink Flamingo Championship tournament, which will take place in the Bahamas. The game is set to tip at 4:30 p.m. CT.
