WBB Head Coach Kristy Curry: "We Need Better Play From the 5-Spot"
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — The SEC is home to some of the best interior players in college basketball with LSU's Angel Reese and South Carolina's Aliyah Boston. Now Alabama will head on the road to play another talented interior player in Mississippi State's Jessika Carter.
The 6-foot-5 Carter is top-5 in the SEC in rebounds, blocks and field goal percentage while averaging 14.8 points per game. Head coach Kristy Curry talked about how Carter is strong on both ends of the floor, along with a key component to finding success against her and the Bulldogs.
"We gotta have better play at the 5-spot," Curry said. "It starts on the defensive end and goes to the offensive end. The first half [against Vanderbilt], we didn't have a rebound from the 5-spot in the first half. If we do that Sunday, we're gonna have a hard day."
Curry mentioned how Vanderbilt's Sacha Washington had a lot of success in Thursday's win, scoring 26 points and grabbing 11 rebounds.
"Washington had a field day," Curry said. "So we gotta play better at the 5-spot."
Success at the center position begins with Jada Rice, who has started all 26 games this season and leads the SEC with 58 total blocks. But Rice has also struggled the last two games; first with foul trouble against Auburn, then not finding much success against the Commodores.
"The biggest thing with Jada is that she's been dealing with some foul trouble," Curry said. "If we can consistently keep her in the flow, and she's more focused on playing free instead of worrying, and I think the foul trouble has caused her to worry a little bit."
Curry went on to compare the paint battle to the trenches in football; just like whoever wins at the line of scrimmage, it's whoever wins in the paint that will have the edge.
Alabama will play Mississippi State on Sunday at 4:30 p.m. CT in Starkville. The game will be broadcasted on SEC Network+.
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