Alabama women’s basketball lost its second consecutive road game falling to Vanderbilt, for the second time this year, in Nashville, Tennessee 67-52. It was Alabama’s second road game in less than a week after losing to Florida 80-72 on Jan. 21 in Gainesville. Alabama has yet to win a conference game on the road this year.
After the loss, Alabama falls to 13-7 overall and 2-5 in Southeastern Conference play, while Vanderbilt improves to 14-5 overall and 3-3 in SEC competition. In a game of runs, Alabama scored the opening basket, but Vanderbilt managed to string together a 14-7 to take a 7-point lead at the end of the first quarter, 23-16.
Vanderbilt pulled off a similar run in the second quarter, scoring 11 unanswered points after Alabama captured the first two points of the period. The Commodores went into halftime with a 39-28 lead.
The third quarter was all Crimson Tide, as the team outscored Vanderbilt 19-7, including a 13-0 run to start off the quarter. Alabama then took the lead and kept it at the end of the third quarter, being on top 47-46.
The fourth quarter saw a different story for the Crimson Tide, as Vanderbilt was able to put together a 16-3 run to ultimately close out the game. Alabama head coach Kristy Curry believes that this game came down to Alabama not having enough energy left in them to finish the game strong.
“You have to fight so hard to get back in, and I wonder sometimes how much we have left in the tank to continue to get over the hump,” Curry said. “I thought we fought so hard defensively to get back in the game that it affected us on the offensive end. Conditioning will be important as we continue to work on those things.”
This is Alabama’s second straight loss in which it has lead at some point in the second half. Against Florida, the team led by three in the fourth quarter before ultimately losing by eight in that game.
Sophomore Hannah Cokk led the team in scoring with 13 points, while sophomores Quanetria Bolton and Meoshonti Knight each scored 12 points. Alabama finished with a field goal percentage of 38.2 (21-55) and the Commodores shot 45.0 percent (27-60) for the game.
Alabama returns to its home floor, where the team is 12-1, on Jan. 28 against the no. 10-ranked Texas A&M Aggies. That game will tip off at 6 p.m. CT and be aired on SEC Network+.
