Alabama Women's Basketball Upset in Opening Game of SEC Tournament

The Crimson Tide's comeback bid in the final minutes fell short as Florida pulled off the first upset of the SEC Tournament.

Mar 6, 2025; Greenville, SC, USA; Florida Gators guard Laila Reynolds (13) shoots on Alabama Crimson Tide guard Sarah Ashlee Barker (3) during the first half at Bon Secours Wellness Arena. | Scott Kinser-Imagn Images

Alabama head coach Kristy Curry talked about the challenge of beating a team three times, and it proved too difficult for her team to do Thursday night in the Crimson Tide's opening game of the SEC Tournament against Florida.

After losing to Alabama twice in the regular season, the 11-seed Gators led almost the entire game and pulled off the first upset of the tournament so far with the 63-61 win over 6-seed Alabama.

"I think on a night like tonight, instead of coming in and talking about all the things that we didn't do, you just have to credit your opponent," Curry said after the game. "Thought Florida played great, played with a lot of energy, was more aggressive, and attack mentality than we were."

Florida led by eight points with 49 seconds left, and yet Alabama had a chance to win with the ball on the final possession. Some missed free throws by Florida and clutch 3s by Zaay Green and Sarah Ashlee Barker cut the Gator lead to 62-61 with 16 seconds left.

Alabama immediately fouled on defense, and Florida only made one of two free throws at the line. Diana Collins had a wide open look from 3 for the win for the Crimson Tide with about five seconds left, but couldn't get the shot to fall. Alabama got the offensive rebounds, but Barker's shot at the buzzer was blocked by the Gators.

It was one of Alabama's worst offensive performances of the season. The Crimson Tide is one of the best 3-point shooting teams in the country, but struggled from beyond the arc all night and finished shooting 28 percent.

The offense had scoring droughts in every quarter. In the first quarter it took Alabama almost four minutes to score a field goal, and it was even worse in the second. The Tide didn't score its first field goal in the second quarter until there was 2:43 left in the half.

Alabama (23-8) had no answers for Florida's (16-16) Liv McGill, who finished with 29 points. Barker led Alabama with 24 points and was visibly emotional after the loss.

"They just outplayed us tonight, out hustled us on the boards," Barker said. "In every category they out-did us. That's where we have to go back to watching film and hoping we can clean up some of those things and move on and go to the NCAA tournament."

This marks the third straight season Alabama has gone one-and-done in the SEC Tournament.

No. 19 Alabama will now await its NCAA Tournament fate. The Crimson Tide is definitely in the field but hoping to be a top-four seed in order to host the opening weekend of games.

Final Stats- Alabama WBB vs. Florida in SEC Tournament- March 6, 2025 | Statbroadcast