Bama Central

Crimson Tide Coach Kristy Curry Collects Career Win No. 500

Alabama needed a big comeback to beat Vanderbilt in Nashville and move above .500 in Southeastern Conference play.

Christopher Walsh

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Senior guard Sarah Ashlee Barker topped 20 points for the third straight game, and senior guard/forward Aaliyah Nye netted 23 fon Monday night to lead the Alabama women's basketball team to a 74-66 win over Vanderbilt inside Memorial Gymnasium.

With the win, head coach Kristy Curry tallied her 500th career win. 

“Really proud of our team down the stretch," she said as Alabama had to come back from a double-digit deficit. "I thought we were a lot more intentional. We were talking at halftime about their (Vanderbilt) effort and energy, it was at a different level than ours. 

"Anytime you can come back out and only have three turnovers in the second half, we'd only shot two free throws, we got to the line 25 times, and then we had three offensive boards and we out-rebounded them, we were getting out-rebounded at the half. So, all the statistical categories just show how intentional and, I thought we took our effort and energy to another level. I am really proud of our team in the way they won tonight.”

Alabama (18-6, 5-4 SEC) was down by as many as 12 points, and was still down by eight at the beginning of the fourth quarter. However, that's when it scored 14 straight points to not only take the lead, but pull away for good.  

Barker, who also had nine rebounds and six assists, scored 15 of her 24 points in the third quarter. Nye took over in the fourth quarter, when she scored 11 of her season-high 23 points. Senior guard Loyal McQueen finished with 16.

The trio combined to score 63 of the team’s 74 total points. Barker (19) and Nye (15) also combined for 34 of the Tide’s 50 second-half points.

The win was big for Alabama, as it starts to vie for seeding in next month's SEC Tournament (March 6-10, Greenville, S.C.) and might, for now, get the Crimson Tide off the bubble for the NCAA Tournament. Earlier this week, ESPN had it as a No. 11 seed, while CBS had Vanderbilt in but not Alabama.

The Commodores (17-6, 4-5 SEC) were led by Sacha Washington, who posted a double-double, scoring 16 points and collecting 10 rebounds.

Curry, in her 11th season at Alabama, is 191-149 with the Crimson Tide, and 500-298 overall. She'll go for win No. 501 when Alabama hosts Tennessee on Thursday at 6 p.m. It'll be the Crimson Tide's Power of Pink/Play4Kay game. 

How to Watch: No. 16 Alabama Basketball at No. 12 Auburn

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Christopher Walsh
CHRISTOPHER WALSH

Christopher Walsh is the founder and publisher of BamaCentral, which first published in 2018. He's covered the Crimson Tide since 2004, and is the author of 26 books including Decade of Dominance, 100 Things Crimson Tide Fans Should Know and Do Before They Die, Nick Saban vs. College Football, and Bama Dynasty: The Crimson Tide's Road to College Football Immortality. He's an eight-time honoree of Football Writers Association of America awards and three-time winner of the Herby Kirby Memorial Award, the Alabama Sports Writers Association’s highest writing honor for story of the year. In 2022, he was named one of the 50 Legends of the ASWA. Previous beats include the Green Bay Packers, Arizona Cardinals and Tampa Bay Buccaneers, along with Major League Baseball’s Arizona Diamondbacks. Originally from Minnesota and a graduate of the University of New Hampshire, he currently resides in Tuscaloosa.

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