Alabama Women's Basketball Drops First Game of the Season at USF

The Crimson Tide's second road game in a row ends in its first defeat of the year.

Road games are never easy, and Alabama realized that tonight.

Head coach Kristy Curry's 10th team went into Tampa, Fla. and fell 67-59 at the hands of the South Florida Bulls, despite having a six-point lead at half. 

USF (4-0) outscored the Crimson Tide 44-30 in the second half, thanks in large part to Bulls guard Sammie Puisis, who scored 24 of her 26 points after the break.

Puisis torched Alabama from beyond the arc, shooting 5-for-11 from distance.

Alabama (2-1) was dominated on the glass by a margin of 46-30, but still played solid interior defense for the majority of the game. 

JaMya Mingo-Young led Alabama in scoring while coming off the bench this game in favor of Georgi transfer Sarah Ashlee Barker, who got the starting nod. Mingo-Young scored 14 points on 5-for-8 shooting from the field and 3-for-3 from the 3-point line. 

Other Alabama players in double figures scoring were Hannah Barber with 11 and Aaliyah Nye with 10.

“Credit South Florida, I thought they did a really good job," Curry said. "It was an amazing environment. It's like I told our team, we can either take an easy route in November or we can put ourselves in a position that's a real challenge, one that we have an opportunity to grow from and there's certainly a lot that that we can take away. 

"I was disappointed tonight in our ability to rebound the ball. I thought that anytime that you can give up 15 offensive boards you're going to have a hard time against a really good team that's been picked to win their league. We, at times, had some moments where we had some loose balls and things we didn't come up with. I think they had 19 points to our 10 so the transition category and the offensive boards, I thought was the difference in the game and we have to continue to improve.”

Alabama turns its attention to a Thanksgiving Week trip to the Bahamas where it will play Utah and Wake Forest in the Pink Flamingo Championships.

The Crimson Tide's game against Utah will tip off at 1:30 p.m. CT on Monday.

How It Happened:

(most recent update at the top)

Fourth Quarter

• FINAL: USF defeats Alabama 67-59.

• Rice gets a bucket inside. USF leads 62-56 with 45 seconds to go.

• Mingo-Young gets an and-one to cut the USF lead to 62-54.

• McQueen hits two free throws. Alabama trails 62-51 with 1:30 to go.

• With just over two minutes remaining, Alabama trails USF 60-49.

• USF knocks down another three to extend the lead to 58-49. 

• Alabama trails 55-48 with half of the fourth quarter remaining.

• Barber hits her third three of the game. USF leads 52-46.

• Nye answers a USF three with one of her own to keep the lead at just four points.

• Two Davis free throws open the half for Alabama. USF leads 44-40. 

Third Quarter

• At the end of the third quarter USF leads Alabama 44-38. Mingo-Young leads Alabama in scoring with 11.

• McQueen nails two free throws to cut the USF lead to 42-38. 

• Curry calls timeout after another USF three pushes the lead to 40-36.

• USF's Puisis hits her second three of the game to take a 37-36 lead for the Bulls.

• Both teams are trading stops. Alabama holds a 36-34 lead with four minutes remaining in the quarter.

• Davis gets her first points of the game on a tough inside layup. Alabama leads 33-30.

• The Bulls are on a 7-0 run and have taken a 30-29 lead.

• USF opens the second half with a tough stepback bucket. Alabama leads 29-25. 

Halftime stats:

Second Quarter

• HALFTIME: Alabama leads USF 29-23.

• Mingo-Young's third three in as many attempts goes down. Alabama leads 29-21. 

• Abrams hits Alabama's fifth three of the game after a USF bucket. The Crimson Tide leads 26-19 with just over two minutes left in the half.

• Alabama has made four straight field goals and is on a 13-2 run to push the lead to 23-17.

• A layup from Mingo-Young extends the Alabama run to 7-0 and gives the Crimson Tide a 17-15 lead.

• Barber answered with Alabama's first points of the quarter. USF leads 15-13.

• USF opens the second quarter with a three, extending the lead to 15-10. 

First Quarter

• At the end of the first quarter, the Bulls lead 12-10. JaMya Mingo-Young leads the Crimson Tide with six points on 2-for-2 shooting from distance.

• Aaliyah Nye hit a nice shot from deep 2-point range, cutting the USF lead to 12-10.

• Mingo-Young stopped the USF run with a 3-pointer, then hit a second in a row, cutting the USF lead to 10-8.

• USF responded with a 10-0 run over the course of five minutes, taking a 10-2 lead with just over three minutes remaining in the quarter.

• Abrams scored the first basket of the game, putting Alabama ahead 2-0. 

• What: Alabama (2-0) vs. USF (3-0) 
• Where: Yuengling Center in Tampa, Fla. 
• When: 6 p.m. CT
• TV: ESPN+, Jim Louk (play-by-play) and Brigid Merenda (color)
• Series: First meeting
• Watch Live ($)
• Live Stats
• CTSN Listen Live (Roger Hoover on the call)

About the Crimson Tide

• Alabama opened the 2022-23 season with a pair of victories, taking a 98-51 win over Alabama A&M at home Nov. 7 before traveling to Tulane for a 76-61 victory last Thursday night
• Brittany Davis paced the Tide, scoring 50 points through two games, which included a 24-point, 11-rebound performance against the Green Wave
• After the first week of action, Davis leads the conference in points per game (25.0) and made threes (12)
• Davis has recorded back-to-back 20-point games to start the season, (26 points vs. Alabama A&M; 24 pts and 11 rebs at Tulane)
• In addition to Davis, Hannah Barber and Jada Rice tallied double digit points against the Green Wave with Barber posting 12 points and Rice chipping in 10
• UA shot 45.2 percent from the floor and 40.9 percent from beyond the arc, while holding Tulane to 34.4 percent from the floor and 30 percent from beyond the three-point line

About South Florida

• The Bulls enter the game with a 3-0 record, coming off a recent 70-59 win against Jacksonville
• Wednesday’s game is the fourth consecutive home contest to start the season for USF, who has also hosted Morehead State (87-40), Florida A&M (90-50) and Jacksonville (70-59)
• Dulcy Fankam Mendjiadeu leads the team with 21.0 points and 9.0 rebounds a game
• Carla Brito is averaging 10.7 points and 6.3 rebounds per contest to open the season
• Both Fankam Mendjiadeu and Brito earned weekly honors for the American Athletic Conference

Starting five tonight:

Sarah Ashlee Barker making her first start for Alabama https://t.co/n5SBfjAWxa

— Blake Byler (@blakebyler45) November 16, 2022

See Also:

Alabama Women's Basketball Beats Tulane, Moves to 2-0 on Season

Alabama Women's Basketball Wins Season Opener over Alabama A&M, 98-51

Alabama Women's Basketball: 2022-23 Season Preview

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