By outreach@cw.ua.edu (Matthew Speakman)
Alabama women’s basketball defeated Faulkner 93-34 on Nov. 9 in Foster Auditorium. This was the final exhibition game before Alabama kicks off their regular season against Alabama A&M on Nov 13.
“I love the grit we showed tonight,” said head coach Kristy Curry. “I thought we played really, really hard. There was great balance across the board.”
Alabama dominated this game, shooting 48.1 percent (37-77), while holding Faulkner to just 17.2 percent (11-64) from the field. Alabama had a collective effort, with all players scoring at least once and having four players in double figures. Freshman Shaquera Wade recorded a double-double in her first game with the same, tallying 17 points as well as 10 rebounds.
“It was a great experience to play in my first college game with my teammates,” Wade said. “I feel like they have done a lot for me.”
Sophomore Meoshonti Knight scored 17 points, breaking her previous personal record of 16 in a game. Sophomore Hannah Cook shot 50 percent (3-6) from three-point territory, recording 15 points in the game.
Alabama came out with a relatively small lineup in size, playing four guards and one center. The team pushed the ball after each rebound and focused on playing an up-tempo style. Overall, Alabama scored 19 points in transition.
“We can actually run this year,” Knight said. “It is getting us easy baskets and I think that is going to help us in the long run.”
Alabama was able to start a lot of their transition game by forcing turnovers on defense. The team played a full-court press for most of the game, while trapping once the ball crossed half court. The Crimson Tide forced 26 Turnovers, eight more than its average of 18 from last season. The increased pressure on defense allowed Alabama to record 28 points off of turnovers.
“We want to play faster,” Curry said. “We feel like we have recruited some depth and we want to be more of a pressing team. We want to be more of that SEC look that we see all of the time.”
The tide outrebounded the Eagles 61-45, with 19 of those coming on the offensive side. Even though they played a small lineup, the tide was still able to record 19 second chance points, while also limiting Faulkner to nine in that category.
Alabama got healthy production from their bench, tallying 41 points from their substitutes. Sophomore Quanteria Bolton recorded 10 points off of the bench while also grabbing 7 rebounds.
Alabama dominated in the second quarter, outscoring Faulkner 27-2, extending their lead to 51-14. From then on they coasted to a win in the second half, scoring 18 more than the Eagles on their way to a 59-point victory.
Alabama will be back in action on Nov 13 pairing with the Men’s team for a double-header in Coleman Coliseum. The Tide will take on Alabama A&M at 4:30 p.m.
“We are thrilled for the men’s program and thrilled for us,” Curry said. “We hope to have a great crowd.”
Source:: The Crimson White Sports
