In its first exhibition game of the season, the Alabama women’s basketball team beat the Auburn-Montgomery Warhawks 81-27 at home. For head coach Wendell Hudson, the result of the game was less important than how his team competed.

“I thought we played well,” Hudson said. “I guess from my standpoint, what we were looking at was not the score, but the intensity level. The intensity level was where it should have been.”

Senior Ericka Russell echoed her coach’s thoughts on the game. “I think the positive was coming out with energy,” Russell said. “We weren’t perfect every position, but just coming out with energy, playing intense, just trying to be consistent. I think just playing as a team was the biggest thing.” The Tide dominated in every aspect of the game against the Warhawks. Alabama out-rebounded the Warhawks 56-36, held them to only 10 made field goals on 54 attempts, while only allowing nine second-half points.

Hudson said where his team most excelled, however, was in its chemistry, especially in the passing game. “We were real excited about the way we made the extra pass,” Hudson said. “We had 19 assists, and we were sitting down talking on the bench, talking about ‘when have we had 19 assists?’ It doesn’t matter who you’re playing, we shared the basketball.”

The Tide was led in scoring by Celiscia Farmer and Kyra Crosby with 15 points apiece. Shafontaye Myers and Erin Hogue also scored 12 and 10 points for the Tide, respectively. The Tide shot 42 percent on the game, making 29 of 69 shots. “I thought we shot the ball pretty well,” Hudson said. “I really believe that this team can shoot better.”

Despite the Tide’s performance, Crosby said she could still see improvement in the team’s defensive transitions and free throw shots. “We need to work on our defensive transitions,” Crosby said. “As a team, [we need to work] on free throws. We only shot 58 percent. So we really need to concentrate on free throws on the free throw line.” Indeed, Hudson acknowledged that Alabama needed this game to work out the kinks and prepare for the regular season. “We’re not there. We’re not where we need to be,” Hudson said. “We know that. We needed this game, and we’re going to need other games here to get ready for the SEC. But the attitude and setting the tone for this year was laid out there because of the intensity level.”

Alabama 81, Auburn-Montgomery

Points: Celiscia Farmer (UA), Kyra Crosby (UA), 15

Rebounds: Farmer, Meghan Perkins (UA), 9

Assists: Perkins, Jasmine Robinson (UA), 4