TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – Coming off a battle of a win against Georgia, the Tide looked to extend their winning streak to three after setting the record for the best start to a season. The Razorbacks however had different plans, as the Tide fell to Arkansas 77-59.
Almost instantly, it became apparent that Alabama was in trouble as the Tide struggled to rebound. Just two minutes after tip-off, the Tide had given up four offensive rebounds that resulted in second chance points. Unfortunately for the Tide, the game plan set by Arkansas did not change as the Razorbacks outrebounded Alabama 52 to 35. Arkansas nearly doubled the amount of offensive rebounds in comparison along with having 12 more defensive rebounds. However, despite the disadvantage the Tide still fought all the way up until the third quarter where Arkansas went on a 10-0 run to cement the lead.
Although they fell short, the Crimson Tide went out swinging thanks to the help of Sarah Ashlee Barker’s 18 points, and Jessica Timmons who helped deliver 13. While it may not be noted in the stat sheet, Timmons was huge for Alabama – being a spark plug for offense hitting timely shots during what felt like a century of scoring drought. Her efforts alongside Loyal McQueen, Karly Weathers, and Sarah Ashlee Barker brought the Arkansas score back down to a two point game to start the fourth – to no avail.
“I think on days like today you can come in here and you can be negative and complain and not credit the other team, but I thought today we just got beat at every position,” said head coach Kristy Curry.
“Credit to Arkansas. They did a phenomenal job today and it was their day, they were just better. We’re searching for consistency. It’s a word that we talk about on a regular basis, and we weren’t very consistent today. I just have to credit Arkansas. They played great.”
For the game, the Tide shot 36% from the floor due to Arkansas ability to swallow the lanes. Arkansas ended up finishing with 11 blocks on the night whereas Alabama finished with 3, but gave up 40 points in the paint. However, Alabama still shot 40% from deep compared to the Razorbacks who shot 40.3% from the floor, 25% beyond the arc.
The Tide look to get back on track Thursday Jan. 18 against defending national champions LSU. The Crimson Tide and Tigers will tip off at 8 p.m. CT on SEC Network.
Jaylon Brooks is WVUA-FM’s senior women’s basketball writer.
