Alabama Women's Basketball Dominates Sam Houston, 84-50
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. - If you've ever been in the room with a fifth grader, you know how chaotic that can be. If you've ever been present with over 1,700 fifth graders, you may need ear plugs and aspirin to survive the day.
Such was the scene for Alabama women's basketball's win in the Monday Matinee matchup with Sam Houston, as it was the annual Fifth Grade Fastbreak event. Among the chaos, Alabama (9-2) put together a well-rounded second quarter in order to pull away from the Bearkats (4-5), winning 84-50.
The win extends Alabama's winning streak to seven games, and it is the 800th win in program history.
"Really, really a great environment. This is one of our favorite days of the year," Alabama head coach Kristy Curry said postgame. "Especially on a day where we achieved 800 program wins, I thought it was really fitting because the energy of the crowd and the energy on the floor.
"The way everyone competed all day just represented what this program is about."
"It's amazing to be part of a program like this, and to be a part of the 800th win just really means a lot," guard Megan Abrams said.
In the first quarter, the game was a representation of the crowd energy. Momentum was grabbed by the Bearkats early, as the Crimson Tide trailed for the first six minutes of the contest. A Taylor Sutton layup as time expired gave Alabama a 15-14 lead after one, and that was spring board for what was to come in the second quarter.
"It was a little chaotic, we practiced with some crowd noise, but when you actually get here an there's a lot going on, you have to focus in on the task at hand," Curry said.
Alabama began the second quarter on a 13-0 run, sparked by inside production and a Hannah Barber three. The Crimson Tide outscored the Bearkats 27-9 in the quarter, making the final seven shots going into the half.
"I thought we were able to get our feet under us, settle down a little bit... and got a feel for the environment and just let the game come to us," Curry said.
The 42-23 halftime lead did not diminish, as the third quarter became another episode of the JaMya Mingo-Young show. Mingo-Young quickly grabbed back-to-back layups and three rebounds in the first two minutes of the third, pushing her to her second straight double-double. She finished with 15 points and 11 rebounds and a plus-minus of +32.
"Whenever you step on the court, the most important thing is playing hard," Mingo-Young said. "Whenever you play hard, you find yourself in position to get loose balls, to get rebounds. You put yourself in a good position to get a double-double, so I just think that playing hard has had a big role in it."
Mingo-Young's signature steal-to-layup sequence was featured midway through the third, and her effort was contagious.
Alabama blew the game open in the third with five threes, two each from Barber and Abrams and one from Brittany Davis. It was all part of a 13-2 run, putting the game out of reach heading into the final period.
Megan Abrams, who graduated on Saturday, had a strong game scoring the ball, and it came from taking good shots. Abrams was 7-of-10 from the field and 2-of-3 from deep, as she refrained from forcing the issue. She finished with 21 points and a plus-minus of +29.
In fact, taking good shots was the mantra of the Alabama effort, as the team shot 50 percent from the field.
Entering the game, Sam Houston averaged 70.9 points per game. The Alabama defense was stifling, as the Crimson Tide held the Bearkats to just 50 points. The defensive effort featured eight blocks from center Jada Rice, seven of which came in the first half.
"We felt like one of the strengths that Jada brought to our team was we were going to have some rim protection," Curry said. "Just gives you a different dimension defensively when you have some rim protection."
All in all, Alabama was too much for Sam Houston, and the Crimson Tide was able to get a decisive victory at home in front of an army of fifth graders.
Full Game Stats
Alabama will play Little Rock on the road Thursday night at 6:30 p.m. CT as the Crimson Tide will look to add to the win streak.
