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Live Updates: SEC Women's Basketball Tournament Alabama vs. Georgia

Crimson Tide hopes to snap a five-game losing streak against the Bulldogs, and stay alive in the SEC Tournament.
Christopher Walsh|
Live Updates: SEC Women's Basketball Tournament Alabama vs. Georgia
Live Updates: SEC Women's Basketball Tournament Alabama vs. Georgia

In this story:

Alabama Crimson Tide

Alabama women’s basketball is coming off 75-68 victory in the first round of the 2022 Southeastern Conference Women’s Basketball Tournament.

The 11th-seeded Crimson Tide advanced to face sixth seeded Georgia in the second round. 

Fourth Quarter

Georgia has the momentum heading into the final 10 minutes ...

• Davis, who was pretty quiet in the third quarter, hits a pretty big 3. She has 19, while Abrams leads the Tide with 21. 57-46.

• Rice layup as Alabama keeps up the pressure while also working the clock. 61-48. 

• Davis puts up an NBA three-pointer over a defender and hits it. Tide up 64-48. She has 24 points, is 5-for-6 from beyond the arc. 

• Under 6 minutes to go, Rice on bench with four fouls. Cruce and Davis both with three. No one else has more than one. 

• Media time out: Alabama up 68-51, looking to put this one away. Davis with 26. Tide has 14-6 scoring edge in fourth quarter.

• Alabama on the verge of pulling off the only upset of the second round. 68-55, with 3:36 to go. 

• Curry calls time out with 2:44 to go. Tide up 69-58. Davis still with 26, Abrams has 22. Impressive stat is that Alabama hasn't been out-rebounded against bigger Bulldogs. 

• ESPN Bracketologists say if Alabama wins it's among the first four out for the NCAA Tournament. That means it may be playing for a spot in the field against Tennessee tomorrow. 

• Georgia running out of time. Last minute and still down 72-60. Bulldogs will drop down to a 7 seed in the NCAAA Tournament after hoping to earn way to top 4 with good showing this week. 

Final score: Alabama 74, Georgia 62. 

Crimson Tide just the third team in tournament history to reach the quarterfinals as an 11 seed or lower. 

Game Statistics

Halftime

Third Quarter

Alabama blew a big lead against Georgia earlier this season. Might be a blessing in disguise now.

• Bulldogs looking inspired coming out of the locker room, only Cruce douses it pretty quickly with a 3. Isaacs subsequently picks up fourth foul for Georgia and Abrams buries both free throws. Tide up 42-26.

• Abrams layup gives her 15, and Cruce follows with one of her own off a miss to make it 46-26. Georgia calls time out.

• Tide gets a little sloppy, a layup off a turnover give Georgia 7-0 run, pulls to within 46-33. Curry calls time out.

• Abrams drives and scores to end the run. 48-33, midway through the third quarter.

• Georgia making a run, hits four of last five shots in the third quarter. Closes to 54-45. 

Second Quarter 

Officials: Pulani Spurlock-Welsh, Michael McConnell, Natahsa Camy

• There was a correction during the break, Alabama was ahead 18-10 after the first quarter, but Sutton made a layup to make the score 20-10 again.  

• Cruce hits a 3 to end a 7-0 scoring run for Georgia. Bulldogs pull to within 23-19 as we close in on the midway point of the quarter.  

• Davis 3 gives her 16 points already. She's 6-for-9 overall, 3-for-3 beyond the arc.  

• Alabama shooting 50 percent from the field, 10-for-20. Georgia at 38.1 percent. 

• Tide is on an 8-0 run, has pulled ahead 31-19. Keyed by three turnovers, the Georgia scoring drought is over 4 minutes.

• Make that a 10-0 run over 3 minutes. 33-19. 

• Abrams drive in final minute makes it 37-22. She has 11 points. 

• Georgia has no field goals over final 5:53 of half. Alabama up big at the half: 37-22

First Quarter

We're under way and Georgia opens the game by hitting back-to-back three-pointers.

• Alabama made one of its first six shots before Davis hit a 3, Mingo-Young missed a layup off a steal that would have tied the game. Instead Davis made a mid-range shot to make it 8-8, followed by a 3 to give Alabama the lead.

• Davis scored all 11 points overt the first six-plus minutes. Abrams connected followed by Sutton with a 3. Alabama leads 16-10.

• Time out with 2:27 left in first quarter. Alabama is on a 13-2 run, and has hit its last four shots. That was after hitting just two of first 11.

• Sutton beats the shot clock with a clutch shot. Alabama leads after first quarter 20-10. 

The Details

  • No. 21 Georgia Lady Bulldogs (20-8, 9-7 SEC) vs. Alabama Crimson Tide (15-12, 6-10 SEC)
  • When: Thursday, March 3 | approximately 8 p.m. CT
  • SEC Second Round
  • Where: Bridgestone Arena | Nashville
  • TV: SEC Network (Courtney Lyle, Carolyn Peck and Steffi Sorensen)
  • Video Stream: SECN+
  • History: UGA 44-12
  • Last Meeting: W 72-68 (1/9/22). The Bulldogs have won five straight overall. Five of the last eight meetings have gone into overtime, but all were Georgia wins. The two teams last met in the SEC tournament in 2019.
  • The winning team will advance to face Tennessee at 8:30 p.m. CT Friday. 

Alabama's Starting 5

G Brittany Davis

G Hannah Barber

G Megan Abrams

G JaMya Mingo-Young

F Allie Craig Cruce

G 1 Abrams,Megan 27 14.1 3.4 1.6

G 2 Mingo-Young,JaMya 28 11.3 7.0 2.5

G 5 Barber,Hannah 27 8.4 2.4 2.9

G 23 Davis,Brittany 28 17.4 7.1 1.5

F 21 Cruce,Allie Craig 23 2.3 1.3 0.3

Scouting the Bulldogs

Georgia is led by head coach Joni Taylor, a former Crimson Tide player and assistant coach. 

Last year, she guided the Bulldogs to the SEC tournament finals for the first time since 2004. Georgia has won the SEC tournament on four occasions (1983, 1984, 1986 and 2001) and is looking for its third-straight appearance in the quarterfinals.

The Lady Bulldogs have played remarkably well away from home this year. Georgia boasts a 9-3 mark away from Stegeman Coliseum, with wins against Notre Dame and No. 2-ranked NC State.

Graduates Jenna Staiti and Que Morrison lead the Lady Bulldogs this season. The two All-SEC selections have topped Georgia in scoring a combined 23 times in 28 games during the 2021-22 campaign.

Another bright spot for the Lady Bulldogs over the last few weeks has been the play of freshman guard Reigan Richardson. She's scored in double figures in five of the last six games. She hit 60 percent from the field in a three-game stretch against Missouri, Auburn and Arkansas.

Sarah Ashlee Barker, a former Miss Basketball award winner in the state of Alabama, is the daughter of former Crimson Tide quarterback Jay Barker. 

This story will be regularly updated

Published
Christopher Walsh
CHRISTOPHER WALSH

Christopher Walsh is the founder and publisher of Alabama Crimson Tide On SI, which first published as BamaCentral in 2018, and is also the publisher of the Boston College, Missouri and Vanderbilt sites . He's covered the Crimson Tide since 2004 and is the author of 27 books including “100 Things Crimson Tide Fans Should Know and Do Before They Die” and “Nick Saban vs. College Football.” He's an eight-time honoree of Football Writers Association of America awards and three-time winner of the Herby Kirby Memorial Award, the Alabama Sports Writers Association’s highest writing honor for story of the year. In 2022, he was named one of the 50 Legends of the ASWA. Previous beats include the Green Bay Packers, Arizona Cardinals and Tampa Bay Buccaneers, along with Major League Baseball’s Arizona Diamondbacks. Originally from Minnesota and a graduate of the University of New Hampshire, he currently resides in Tuscaloosa.

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