Alabama Athletics
Alabama Women's Basketball Loses Heartbreaker to No. 15 Georgia, 72-68
Playing its second AP top-15 opponent in as many weeks, Alabama played well enough in the first half to hang with, and beat, any team in America.
A rough second half plagued the Crimson Tide (10-5, 1-3 SEC) once again as it fell to No. 15 Georgia (13-3, 2-2 SEC) on the road in a hard fought match.
Eager to rebound from Thursday's loss, Alabama came out on fire in Athens. The Crimson Tide made six of its seven three-point attempts in the first quarter, including senior guard Brittany Davis making all four of her shots from beyond the arc. Alabama also had five assists, playing unselfish basketball finding open teammates for good looks. The strong first quarter showing including a 10-0 run gave the Tide a nine point lead early on.
Backup point guard Taylor Sutton made a three with tough defense in her face to end the first quarter, and she picked up right where she left off in the second. She opened the second quarter with a difficult finish inside and another made three pointer, making her first four shots of the game helping Alabama extend its lead.
"[Sutton] continues to get better every day," Alabama head coach Kristy Curry said. "She really cares a lot and continues to practice well. Those minutes are coming because she's practicing so well right now."
Davis continued to make everything she took, as did fellow senior guard Hannah Barber. The two combined to make all eight of their first half three-point attempts, and Alabama as a team as 10-12 from deep in the first half.
"It's a lot of the same looks that we've been getting in recent games," Curry said. "Credit our kids for continuing to get in the gym and get shots up."
Alabama, having built a 19-point lead, struggled to score to open the second half, not scoring its first basket until three minutes in. The Crimson Tide, though, picked up its scoring the same way it did in the first half: making threes. Georgia, however, continued to fight and cut Alabama's lead down to just six points entering the final quarter using a plethora of defensive stops, fastbreaks, and points in the paint.
Georgia continued to force turnovers with tight defense in the fourth quarter, feeding the paint and tying the game at 60 with six minutes to play. Sutton then hit her third three of the game to give Alabama the lead once again. The Bulldogs would take a two point lead with three minutes left, their first lead since early in the first quarter.
Alabama turned to Barber, who nailed a three to give the Tide the lead again. The teams would go back-and-forth in the final minutes, with Georgia emerging victorious following multiple Alabama turnovers in the final minutes.
Davis scored all 18 of her points in the first half, but still led Alabama in scoring. Sutton and Barber added 13 and 12, respectively, and the trio combined for 13 of Alabama's 14 made three pointers.
Alabama held a 14-3 advantage in made threes, but ultimately the Bulldogs' 42 points in the paint to Alabama's 12 made the biggest difference.
"The biggest thing is keeping the ball in front when you have to help in penetration," Curry said. "I thought we had some misses in our zone and rotation but we've got to do a better job of understanding and continuing to grow defensively."
Alabama will travel to Oxford to take on the Ole Miss Rebels on Thursday at 6 p.m. CT, as the Tide search for it second SEC win of the season.
Final stats
This story will be updated.
