The Tide women’s basketball team wrapped up the first phase of postseason play last week in the Southeastern Conference tournament. The Crimson Tide went into the tournament having won four of its last five games but lost to LSU in the first round of the tournament. However, the season ended on a high note for the Tide.
Head coach Wendell Hudson said he noticed a difference in the team toward the end of the season.
“Well, what has happened to this team I think in the last three to four weeks is it has matured, one,” Hudson said. “Two, we’ve also learned how to play out of some of the sets we’ve been trying to put in and part of that is the maturity level. And I think what else has happened is because we’ve learned how to play out of them, we’ve made some baskets and got some easy baskets, which has helped. All of this is helping the maturing process and I think that’s been really good for us.”
Junior guard Ericka Russell said, “I thought the last couple of games, the momentum and the way we played showed how we could really play. Going into the tournament, we knew that we could compete and if we play the way we need to play we could come out with the win.”
Hudson also mentioned the relentless and toughness of the team. He said that although the team went through a nine-game losing streak, they never stopped playing hard and never gave up.
Alabama took a 60-36 point loss against the LSU Tigers. The Tide struggled with their shooting, even though they shot more than the Tigers.
“When you start the game against a good team and you miss a couple layups because you’ve worked hard to get them, that always will get that head kind of midway down,” Hudson said. “And that kind of happened to us. As far as competing and trying, I thought we did a good job. Against a good team like that, you have to kind of score with them.”
All hope and faith is not lost for the team as they will be watching the selection of teams invited to play in the Women’s National Invitational Tournament on Monday.
“We look forward to it,” Hudson said. “We’re practicing and hopefully we’re going to get a chance to play in the WNIT. I think any postseason play is part of getting the program headed in the right direction. You want this time of the year to be an expectation and not an if.”
Hudson said there is a different attitude among the team, and they are excited about the chance of possibly playing in the postseason. No current member on the team has played in a postseason game.
“I think that what happened before the SEC tournament is going to really help this team,” Hudson said, “because we saw that we can play with everybody we need to play with. Also, if you play hard and you play together and play as a team then good things will happen.”
Russell said, “We’re excited to have another chance to get back on the court and redeem ourselves… Any time we get a new chance to get out on the court it’s kind of humbling us. We’ve been working hard in practice and getting prepared. We’re ready for another game and hopefully come out with the win. Hopefully we’ll continue to win and go far in the tournament.”
