Star center/forward Ashley Williams fell and hit her head on the floor with 11:09 left in the second half. Curry and athletic trainers rushed to see what was wrong. Play was stopped for several minutes until Williams was taken off the court on a stretcher.
“My first reaction was ‘God I hope she is ok,’” redshirt freshman Karyla Middlebrook said. “She is one of the players on the team I’m closest with so it was really hard for me to sit on the bench while she’s over there almost looking unconscious from where I was sitting. But it was good to see her give a thumbs up and wave to the crowd as she was escorted off.”
The crowd fell silent after Williams did not get up. Williams has been a huge part in the success of the Crimson Tide this season. As a sophomore, she leads the team in scoring this season with 14.3 points per game and left the game with 10 points. Ashley was later diagnosed with a concussion and was scratched from the lineup against Ole Miss Sunday.
“It was real emotional to see Ashley go down like that,” freshman guard Meoshonti Knight said. “We just had to pull together as a team as always, and face adversity.”
Williams was also a huge defensive presence on the team. After she left the game, the Gamecocks scored 40 points in nine minutes. USC eclipsed 100 points in a SEC game for the first time in conference history and shot 84.6 percent in the second half.
Curry said if Williams misses significant time, other Alabama players will have to step up.
“We would move our rotation up again,” Curry said. “The rotation is the way it is because of the preseason and how practices have gone. I think we will evaluate. The most important thing though is to evaluate the next two days in practice, and see who practices better and harder.”
Sunday, the Crimson Tide missed Williams and gave up 77 points against Ole Miss. Alabama moved to 0-4 in the SEC after the 77-63 loss. Ole Miss out-rebounded Alabama, 38-26, and shot 47 percent from three-point range. Sophomore guard Breanna Hayden led Alabama with 16 points and six rebounds.
