No player on Alabama’s roster was alive the last time the Alabama women’s basketball team defeated the Tennessee Lady Vols in 1984. Coming into Sunday’s matchup, the Crimson Tide had succumbed to Tennessee 39 straight times, all but one coming at the hands of coaching legend Pat Summitt.
Coach Kristy Curry had Tennessee’s second-year coach Holly Warlick on the ropes early in Foster Auditorium, which has been kind to the Crimson Tide this season. When Alabama’s shooting went cold in the second half, however, the crowd went quiet.
Tennessee (18-4, 7-2) used its size inside, among other things, to carve out a 64-54 win over the Crimson Tide, its 40th straight over Alabama (10-12, 3-6).
“Alabama was gritty, they were tough, they played hard, didn’t have anything to lose,” Warlick said. “[They were a] tough basketball team, and we had to make some adjustments at halftime.”
Tennessee struck with two straight three-pointers after a timeout with 7:48 to go in the game, expanding its lead to 45-39. It wasn’t long before the Lady Vols took a double-digit lead in the second half, as they led by as much as 16 points.
“I wasn’t worried at all,” Tennessee’s Cierra Burdick said. “There was never a doubt in my mind we were going to win this basketball game. We’re too talented of a team, and we’ve been in that position before.”
Burdick led all players with 21 points. Burdick was joined by teammates Isabelle Harrison and Meighan Simmons as double-digit scorers for the Lady Vols. Harrison and Simmons both had 11.
With the loss, Alabama blew a chance to defeat its second top-10 team of the season after downing Kentucky last week.
“A loss is a loss,” Alabama’s Daisha Simmons said. “You want to compete as a competitor, you want to win every game, so every loss hurts the same.”
The Crimson Tide finished with just seven assists, while the Lady Vols combined for 17 on the afternoon. Tennessee also out-rebounded Alabama 41-32.
“I thought they really hurt us down the stretch on the offensive glass, their size,” Curry said. “Size matters. At the end, I thought the skill and size just really hurt us on the offensive glass.”
Myers finished with 11 points. Simmons led the Crimson Tide with 18 points, including seven of the team’s first nine points. Sharin Rivers, who started her fourth consecutive game, was third on the team with nine points.
The announced crowd of 3,002, a record for Foster Auditorium, featured a Tennessee crowd that rivaled Alabama’s in terms of population and spirit.
“The crowd always gives us energy every game,” Rivers said.
The Crimson Tide will next face Missouri (14-8, 3-6) Sunday in Columbia.
