Alabama Women's Basketball Unable to Topple Tennessee in SEC Quarterfinals, 74-59

The Crimson Tide could not overcome the stifling defense that the Lady Volunteers brought to Bridgestone Arena on Friday night.

Author:
Clayton Connick
Publish date:
Mar 4, 2022 11:27 PM EST

Through its first two games of the SEC Tournament, Alabama had relied greatly on driving to the basket and having the ability to kick the ball out for a high percentage three. On Friday, the shots did not fall early for Alabama.

The No. 11 seed Alabama was unable to maintain its hot streak through the SEC Tournament as No. 3 seed Tennessee dominated the quarterfinal game from start to finish, giving Alabama the 74-59 loss.

The Lady Volunteers were locked in defensively to open the game. Alabama boasts two of the best scorers in the SEC in Brittany Davis and Megan Abrams, and Tennessee held the duo to just one point between the two of them in the first quarter. An 0-for-7 shooting performance from beyond the arc through the first period kept Alabama to just five points, as the Lady Volunteers took a strong 15-5 lead.

Tennessee brought a physicality on defense, frustrating Alabama throughout the first half. Alabama head coach Kristy Curry did not agree with some of the no calls as the Crimson Tide drove to the rim, and she voiced that opinion in the second quarter.

At the 5:12 mark of the second quarter, Curry received a technical foul for chirping at the referee as Davis may have been hacked driving to the rim. Two minutes of game time later, JaMya Mingo-Young got bumped on a loose ball situation, and Curry was out at half court to question the no call. That warranted another technical on the Alabama head coach, and she was ejected from the game before halftime.

"I'm not going to apologize for the passion," Curry said. "If I talk about officiating I'll be held accountable, and I just want the focus to be that our kids have won five out of the last seven, they have fought, they have battled, they have done everything we've asked them to do.

"Just want to turn the focus to how proud I am of our kids... I will fight for those kids."

Following Curry's departure, Davis scored her first, and only, two buckets of the game after being held scoreless in the game's first 18 minutes. That gave the Crimson Tide momentum going into the break, but the deficit was large as the Lady Volunteers led 34-20.

Alabama began scoring more efficiently in the third, but Tennessee had just as much success in transition. That paired with a rebound advantage kept the Crimson Tide out of reach, and the Lady Volunteers went on a 9-0 run late in the third to help stretch their lead to 56-37 heading into the final period.

Alabama outscored the Lady Volunteers 22-18 in the fourth, but the effort was not enough to overcome the deficit. The Crimson Tide did finally hit the mark from long range, scoring three of its five total buckets from beyond the arc in the final quarter.

Abrams still managed to score 19 points in the game, putting together an impressive three games in Nashville. She was emotional in the postgame press conference as she thought back on all that Alabama gave her, knowing that she may never suit up for the Crimson Tide again.

"As you can see she's a pretty special young lady," Curry said. "Really proud of who she is and everything she represents and her passion and the legacy that she is going to leave at Alabama."

"It's been unbelievable, I mean, there's no other coach that I would want to play for," Abrams said. "The confidence that she has instilled in me since I stepped on campus has been amazing, and she has helped me become the player and the woman that I am today.

"I appreciate coach Curry and the staff and everything that they do for me, and there's no place in the country, there's no other place I would rather be."

Allie Craig Cruce also put together a nice game, scoring 12 points in her third straight start.

Davis, who shot 5-of-6 from three on Thursday night, was 0-for-7 as Tennessee keyed in on stifling her shooting effort.

Overall, the Crimson Tide shot 18.7 percent from three point range, which kept Alabama out of the game because of Tennessee's consistency scoring. The rebounding advantage for the Lady Volunteers was 43-to-30, as they did not allow Alabama to get many extra possessions.

Ultimately, Tennessee was able to dismantle the Crimson Tide's run in this SEC Tournament. Alabama will now await the selection for the NCAA Tournament, though the outlook is bleak following this blowout loss.