Alabama Women's Basketball Knocks Off Auburn, Advances to Second Round of SEC Tournament
Allie Craig Cruce embodied the 'next one up' mentality.
Eleventh-seeded Alabama (16-12, 6-10) advanced to the second round of the SEC Tournament by knocking off 14-seed Auburn (10-18, 2-14) 75-68 at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tenn.
The Crimson Tide will face sixth-seeded Georgia in the late game Thursday night. If there are no significant delays, tipoff will be at approximately 8:30 p.m. CT.
"Love the grit, love the toughness down the stretch," Alabama head coach Kristy Curry said. "To outrebound an Auburn team that is so relentless on the glass, and to have four in double figures, I was really proud of how our kids stayed together."
The Crimson Tide defeated Auburn in all three meetings this season.
"It feels good, especially when you've swept them the whole season," junior guard JaMya Mingo-Young said.
Alabama looked to be in a difficult situation without sophomore starting forward Khyla Wade-Warren, who missed the game due to non-COVID related illness.
The Crimson Tide lacked an interior presence early on, with Auburn jumping out to an early lead scoring inside, while Alabama missed five of its first six field goals due to interior misses.
The story early on, though, was senior forward Cruce, who received her second start of the year with Wade-Warren's absence. Cruce, who had only attempted 16 three-pointers coming into the game, made three of her first four attempts, allowing Alabama to trim its initial deficit and take a lead of its own.
Cruce scored nine of her career-high 14 points in the first quarter.
"I'm just happy for her because she comes to work every day," Curry said. "We had Khyla out [...] but Allie Craig really stepped up. To see her make those threes that we normally see her make every day in practice, I thought she let the game come to her."
Alabama was able to extend that lead thanks to senior guards Brittany Davis and Megan Abrams, who found success driving downhill and getting to the free throw line, as well as finishing tough looks around the basket.
A flurry of turnovers in the second half flipped the script for Alabama very quickly. Auburn scored both in transition and inside the paint, storming back and taking the lead entering the fourth quarter.
A back-and-forth fourth quarter was blown open when Cruce hit her fourth three-pointer of the game, igniting Alabama's bench and giving the Crimson Tide momentum to close out the win.
Alabama's trio of Davis, Abrams, and Mingo-Young each played all 40 minutes in the game. While the All-SEC Second Team selection had a quieter game than what fans are used to with only 15 points, Abrams picked up the slack scoring 25 of her own. Mingo-Young added a double-double herself, doing a lot of the dirty work on the boards with 14 points and 15 rebounds.
"It's mental toughness," Abrams said. "You want to go out there and compete for your team, and play hard. I happened to play 40 minutes tonight [...] but I was just happy to be able to contribute to this team win."
Alabama Women's Basketball Knocks Off Auburn, Advances to Second Round of SEC Tournament