The Alabama women’s basketball team, coming off a dominating 82-55 win over Tennessee State on Friday, struggled in the first half but came back to beat the Central Arkansas Sugar Bears 87-76 on Sunday.
The first half was a disappointing one for head coach Wendell Hudson’s Crimson Tide, who was down three points five minutes into the first half. Central Arkansas hit a run midway through the half, led by star Megan Herbert, to take an eight-point lead with just under four minutes left in the half.
“That was just a trust issue,” Hudson said. “We had to trust that they would be ready for us, and we didn’t. That first half, it felt like we were almost there on a lot of loose balls and other plays like that, but not quite there.”
Alabama fought back to make it a one-point game at halftime after a clutch three pointer from Shafontaye Myers with only four seconds left.
“[Myers’ three-point shot] was a big momentum booster,” Hudson said. “We hadn’t been playing well at the time, and you could tell by the team’s reaction that they felt they were right back in the game.”
Hudson reminded the Tide at halftime of things they plan to do every game, including winning the rebound battle and running the floor all the time.
“We got in trouble for our rebounding at halftime,” Jenkins said. “There wasn’t any intensity. We had to pick up our defensive intensity in the second half.”
Hudson used the bench as a motivator for the Tide to start working harder in the second half.
“It’s funny how the bench will motivate them,” Hudson said. “I know the way we play is tough, but we’re committed to it. We’ll find five people that want to play the way we play.”
Alabama reacted well, working its way to an eight-point lead just four minutes into the second half. Back-to-back three-point shots from junior Erika Russell boosted the Tide to this lead, a lead that stayed with Alabama for the remainder of the game.
The game was iced with a powerful block from freshman Kaneisha Horn, propelling the Tide to score seven points in the next 90 seconds, giving the Tide a 10-point lead with just six minutes left.
Jenkins had a great game for the Tide, coming two points shy of her career high with 27 points, while adding 11 rebounds, three assists and two steals. This marked the 25th double-double of her career.
Fellow senior Katie Hancock had 10 points and six rebounds, and helped make Jenkins’ performance possible.
“I had to take a different approach today than I did Friday,” Jenkins said. “I was disappointed with my performance on Friday. I had to have a talk with Katie.”
Hancock said, “I just got Tierney’s head straight. Sometimes she forgets how much her talent level surpasses the rest of ours. I had to tell her and remind her of what we expect out of her.”
First-half problems aside, Jenkins and the Tide played an excellent second half, the kind of half that Hudson wants to see all season long.
“We were able to change the tempo of the game in the first five minutes of the second half,” Hudson said. “We got some easy baskets, and it got us started.”
