The Alabama women’s basketball team enjoyed a signature weekend for coach Kristy Curry’s first season as head coach.
On Thursday, Alabama took down No. 9 Kentucky on the road 57-55, winning on a buzzer beater. The Crimson Tide returned Sunday to a packed Foster Auditorium, where it mounted a comeback and broke a 23-game losing streak to the Georgia Bulldogs 69-66.
“I wanted this win so bad,” junior guard Sharin Rivers said. “Thinking about my teammates and how hard we were working, I just wanted to knock them down for us.”
Georgia (14-6, 2-5 SEC), which was 6-of-15 from three-point range in the second half, went cold in the final minutes, missing its last three from downtown after Sharin Rivers gave the Crimson Tide (10-10, 3-4 SEC) its final points on two free throws.
The announced crowd was 2,678, the largest ever to witness a game in Foster Auditorium.
“Crowd was absolutely spectacular, just incredible support today,” coach Kristy Curry said. “[It was] such a big difference maker for us down the stretch.”
Alabama had a trio of 16-point scorers in Ashley Williams, Sharin Rivers and Shafontaye Myers. Rivers’ 16 points was a personal best. Williams, a freshman, also led the Crimson Tide in rebounds with nine and hit 7-of-8 from the field.
The Crimson Tide was down by double digits in each half, but led 30-29 at haltime. There were a total of five lead changes in the game and six ties. Georgia also jumped on top of Alabama early in the second half, but a couple three-pointers by Khadijah Carter and Myers chipped away at the Bulldogs’ lead.
“People are stepping up,” Curry said. “We practice in different situations with different lineups, and I thought Khadijah Carter’s big threes were huge. Different people stepped up at critical times.”
Myers did not play at Kentucky last Thursday and did not start against Georgia. Myers did make an entrance two minutes into the game and ended up with 31 minutes played, second only to Rivers with 36 minutes. Myers’ 16 points accounted for most of the Crimson Tide’s 25 points off the bench. The Bulldogs’ reserves scored six points.
The win over Kentucky was Alabama’s first win in Lexington, Ky., since 2002.
“There’s nothing better as a coach than watching your team win on the road in a top-10 environment,” Curry said. “That’s what it’s all about. So that emotion’s a little different maybe than coming back and defending your home court.”
Daisha Simmons, who led Alabama in scoring against the Wildcats and hit the game-winning shot with three seconds left, was held to two points Sunday, both coming on free throws.
“Coming off a win, we just had the perseverance to come get this next win,” Williams said.
The Crimson Tide will carry its three-game SEC winning streak to Florida on Thursday to face the Gators (13-6, 3-3).
