The Alabama Crimson Tide women’s basketball team (15-9, 3-8) has returned home to face the Florida Gators (12-12, 3-8) on Sunday. For the players- it’s back to their own beds in their own apartments after a long week away. On Sunday, the player’s families and fans will come out to see the Crimson Tide take on the Gators in the annual Power of Pink and Play for Kay game.
The Crimson Tide will play the Florida Gators after two consecutive losses on the road this week against LSU and Texas A&M. Alabama head coach Kristy Curry is looking to studying game film in order to get a better understanding of what went wrong and what went well in previous games.
“Today we’re going to come in and watch the 14 points we gave up on nine Texas A&M inbounds,” Curry said. “We covered those on the days leading up to game day and still we’re giving up points. We need to watch the execution off of our inbounds, we should always score 6-8 points off inbounds. Our goal is not to let them score and for our dead ball intensity to be at a different level. At the end of our practice we’re going to come in and focus on some film where we did some good things and tomorrow leading up to Florida”
Curry felt that the team is mostly aware of the areas that need improvement, but it’s a matter of working towards bettering those areas day in and day out. Although studying film is important to the team, the real mission is to grow from past mistakes in order to move towards the next game confidently, no matter who the opponent is.
“Right now these kids are a little beat up and yet how do we teach and be constructive and yet stay positive and help them build their confidence? This is a tough league and it’s not kind so we’ve got to teach and continue to learn and grow and yet find ways too to give them confidence, so that’s been the plan here lately,” Curry said.
In the midst of fighting for a comeback, Alabama will also be fighting for another cause on Sunday: breast cancer awareness. Curry reminisced on all the people she has encountered in her life who have fought against cancer, and in her eyes, it is an honor to compete for this cause. Junior Ashley Williams felt honored as well to be able to put on a pair of pink basketball shoes to play in a game like this, as she has also witnessed the effects of breast cancer.
“It’s great to play for a cause like this, I’ve encountered a lot of people who have been affected by it, my high school assistant basketball coach had breast cancer and she fought it and came out stronger. She’s an inspiration to me,” Williams said.
The annual Power of Pink/ Play for Kay game will take place in Coleman Coliseum in Tuscaloosa, Ala. on Sunday at 1 p.m.
