The Alabama women’s basketball team (7-8, 0-2) might not have a win in the Southeastern Conference this season, but coach Kristy Curry feels her young team could achieve one Sunday against Ole Miss.
“In this league, night in and night out, the team that makes the most mistakes isn’t going to be successful,” Curry said. “So we have to do everything we can to play a near perfect game to be successful.”
The Crimson Tide will have to do it without freshman and former starter Karyla Middlebrook, whom Curry announced Wednesday would sit out the rest of the season and take a medical redshirt due to a hip injury.
Senior guard Shafontaye Myers, who leads the team in scoring and three-pointers, said she feels the Crimson Tide is equipped to compete without the possibility of a Middlebrook return.
“It’s going to be a big missing piece,” Myers said. “We’ve done it before. I think we can get through it. We went five games without her, progressed and did well without her. It’ll hurt us, but I think we’ll be able to manage and overcome that.”
Middlebrook started the first seven games for Alabama before missing the next six contests. She then attempted to return to action against Kentucky in the SEC opener.
“I think what we’ve been through the seven games after not having her and trying to get her back the past two, those previous seven games have helped prepare us, that this is not such a big shock,” Curry said. “Sharin Rivers, Brittany Jack – those kids have tried to step in and be a big spark for us.”
The Crimson Tide is winless in conference play after falling to No. 9 Kentucky 85-63 on Jan. 2 and losing to Texas A&M 73-58 on Jan. 5 in College Station, Texas. Myers admits the team’s youth has been somewhat of a stumbling block.
“We have a lot of growing to do,” Myers said. “We’re young and still trying to progress and strengthen our chemistry. It’s kind of a struggle right now because [the freshmen] don’t have the experience, but once they get used to it I think they’ll be alright later down the line.”
Foster Auditorium has continued to be kind to Alabama, as the Crimson Tide has enjoyed a 5-2 record at home this season while going 0-4 in true road games. The team has picked up two wins on neutral sites in 2013-14.
Curry noted the increase in student attendance Foster has seen throughout the season.
The most heavily attended home game this season was the 113-105 victory over Troy on Dec. 20 last year, followed by the Jacksonville and Kentucky games, which make the last three home games the most attended home games of the season.
“The support [has increased],” Curry said. “I can’t even begin to put into words how much we appreciate the support and the improvement we’ve seen in our student attendance.”
