Senior Cierra Johnson’s return to her hometown of Mobile, Alabama, was a successful one as she led Alabama to its third consecutive victory with 16 points in a 74-62 win over South Alabama.

Johnson added eight rebounds and redshirt junior guard Jordan Lewis was the only other Crimson Tide player in double figures, as she finished with 11 points.

Junior forward Jasmine Walker was one-point shy of a double-double with nine points and 11 rebounds. The forward leads the Crimson Tide in rebounding averaging 7.3 per game. Senior forward Ashley Knight had her best game of the season with eight points, six rebounds and a team-high four blocks, continuing her climb to the all-time Alabama blocks leader. Knight needs 11 more blocks to move into first place.

Alabama gained a much-needed boost from its bench as 11 different players scored in the game building a 40-1 advantage in bench points.

South Alabama (1-4) made eight more three-pointers than Alabama. However, Alabama combated the 11-for-26 three-point shooting of the Jaguars by forcing 23 turnovers. Along with grabbing 22 offensive rebounds, the team capitalized on second chance points as it  outscored South Alabama, 23-4.

“We wanted to come out and be aggressive on both sides of the ball,” coach Kristy Curry said in a press release. “We were phenomenal on the offensive glass.”

Alabama (3-1) jumped out to an early 23-11 lead, thanks to a 15-3 run to close the first quarter. The Crimson Tide extended that lead to as much as 18 points in the second quarter before the Jaguars cut it to 41-30 at halftime. Lewis led the Crimson Tide in scoring at the half as she tallied 10 of her 11 points while going 3-for-4 from the field. The team  forced 15 turnovers and grabbed 11 offensive rebounds which resulted in 13 more shots for the Crimson Tide in the first half. Alabama is now out rebounding their opponents 78-31 on the offensive glass for the season.

In the second half, the Alabama defense took over as it didn’t allow a Jaguar basket for the final six minutes of the third quarter to hold a 17-point lead going into the fourth. The lead blossomed to as many as 25 in the final frame and Alabama held on for the 74-62 win.

“When you rebound and defend on the road you give yourself a chance,” Curry said. “I loved our energy and effort tonight.”

South Alabama’s Shaforia Kines had 29 points and knocked down six three-pointers to lead the Jaguars in scoring. Antoinette Lewis, who was South Alabama’s leading scorer coming into Thursday’s matchup, was held without a field goal after averaging 17 points and 14 rebounds.

Alabama will continue its four-game road trip on Sunday as the Crimson Tide travel to New Orleans, Louisiana, to take on Tulane.