The Alabama women’s basketball team opens Southeastern Conference Tournament play Wednesday when it takes on Mississippi State in the first round at The Arena at Gwinnett Center in Atlanta, Ga. The game is set to tip off at 5 p.m. CT and will air on Fox Sports South.
The 13th-seeded Crimson Tide and 12th-seeded Bulldogs will be meeting for the 51st time in program history and second time this season. In the previous meeting, Mississippi State earned a 75-51 victory over Alabama in Starkville, thanks to big games from sophomores Martha Alwal and Carnecia Williams, who combined for 43 points, 23 rebounds, nine blocks and five steals. Alabama leads the overall series with Mississippi State, 34-16, but the Bulldogs have won the three previous contests.
Alabama is looking for its first win in the SEC tournament since the 2004-05 season, when it advanced to the second round. The Tide and Bulldogs have met twice before in the tournament (1987, 1989) with Alabama winning on both occasions. The Tide holds an overall record in SEC tournament games of 24-33 (.421), while Mississippi State stands at 14-33 (.298).
Alabama enters the tournament on a 10-game losing streak, with its last victory coming against Auburn Jan. 24. Throughout that stretch, the Tide has struggled offensively, averaging 57.5 points per game. Earlier in the season, Alabama was collecting 70.5 points per contest. Sophomore Daisha Simmons continues to lead the Tide on offense, averaging 12.4 points per game. She has been Alabama’s leading scorer in five of the last seven games.
After starting the conference season 1-7 in the month of January, the Bulldogs finished out the regular season 4-4, which included a win over No. 11 Georgia. Mississippi State is led by Alwal, who averages just shy of a double-double with 12.3 points and 9.9 rebounds per game and also contributes 2.6 blocks per outing.
The game will be televised, and can be heard on the Crimson Tide Sports Network on the radio and online at RollTide.com.
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