The Crimson Tide women’s basketball team won their first game of the season at home, and now they are quickly heading out for their first road test. The Tide will take on the Central Arkansas Sugar Bears Nov. 15 at 7 p.m. at the Farris Center in Conway, Ark.
“Because it’s our first road game, I think the players are going to be excited about going to play in somebody else’s venue,” head coach Wendell Hudson said. “Central Arkansas is a very good basketball team. They had a great crowd when they played Indiana, so we’re expecting to play in front of a really great, hostile crowd, which will tell us a lot about ourselves really early…I think this is going to be a really big test for us, and we’re really excited about it.”
Both teams won their season openers. Alabama overtook Nicholls State 72-51, while Central Arkansas beat Indiana 58-46. Hudson said the Tide must be defensively aware and shut down Sugar Bear perimeter players who are a threat from beyond the three-point line.
“We have to be sure that our perimeter defense is what it should be because all five of their players on the floor can really shoot the ball from the perimeter,” he said.
Central Arkansas made 61.5 percent from the three. Junior Westin Taylor made five of the team’s eight three-point field goals.
Junior guard Meghan Perkins led the Tide in scoring with 13 points. Freshman Aneesah Daniels tallied 10 rebounds and seven points, while senior guard Ericka Russell tallied 11 points and moved into the 1,000 point club for her college career. Alabama held Nicholls State to 29 percent shooting and forced 19 turnovers.
The Tide shot 55 percent from the free-throw line, making 16 out of 29 attempts. Hudson says there are still improvements that can be made to become a better team.
“The biggest thing that we have to improve on is being ready to play right off the bat, as soon as we get started,” he said. “What we did in the Nicholls State game, I thought we came out in the second half and really played well and really had it turned up, but we did not start the game with the intensity level that we needed to start that particular game with.”
Alabama played Central Arkansas for the first time last year in Tuscaloosa, winning 87-76. The game will be on the airwaves on WACT-FM 1420 and can be heard on Crimson Tide Sports Network.
