Photo by Hannah Saad from The Crimson White

By Austin Hannon

Tuscaloosa, Ala.- After a huge victory on the road in Gainesville Thursday night, the Alabama
Crimson Tide returned home for Senior Day on Sunday afternoon. The three seniors, Jordan
Lewis, Ariyah Copeland, and Jasmine Walker, have been arguably the best three players for the
Tide this season. After combining for 58 points against Florida just three nights before, they did
much of the same, totaling 54 against the Bulldogs in the team’s 71-63 victory.

Just 11 days ago, the Crimson Tide had lost their fourth contest in a row. Since then,
they have won three straight games, including two away from home. Sunday’s win came against
a Mississippi State team who had only played one game since January 28 th . The Bulldogs looked
rusty from the start, never leading once in the entire game, and turned the ball over 16 times. The
Crimson Tide took advantage, finishing the season sweep of Mississippi State even with a
double-digit deficit in the rebounding category. The Bulldogs were unable to consistently get
defensive stops against the Crimson Tide especially in the fourth quarter, giving up 11 to Ariyah
Copeland alone.

Alabama head coach Kristy Curry was proud of her team’s efforts, saying, “I’m so
proud of our seniors for the way they performed on Senior Day. That can be so emotional and
drain a lot of your energy, but man did they handle it so maturely. I'm just so proud of my team.

Twenty assists and nine turnovers against a team like Mississippi State shows that we were
sharing the ball well and setting good screens.”

Ariyah Copeland scored 19 points and added 11 rebounds to earn her eighth double-double of the season.

“We knew today would be a special day for us. But it’s just the next game. We’re on
a good run right now, and we want to make a statement. We want to take this program to a place
it hasn’t been in a long time,” Copeland said.

Senior Jordan Lewis tallied 15 points in her Senior Day at Coleman Coliseum, and for her it was bittersweet.

“All of my experiences here, coach Curry, the staff, the whole community, everyone
has challenged me to become a better person. I also think that I have grown into a better leader. I
don’t think there’s a better place or a better university that I could have gone to,” Lewis said.
Jasmine Walker was the team leader with 20 points, but she struggled at times from
the floor. Regardless, Sunday was another great performance for the Women’s Naismith
midseason finalist. The three seniors all concluded their press conference with a resounding
“Roll Tide”, wrapping up their time at the Capstone while setting the bar for the future of
Crimson Tide women’s basketball.

The Crimson Tide are currently projected as a 7 seed in the NCAA Tournament, a
place they haven’t been since 1999. Alabama finishes their season against two top 20 opponents,
Texas A&M and Arkansas, before heading to Greenville, South Carolina for the SEC
Tournament in just over a week.