Tide Women Fall to Premier Players in Exhibition Action
11/13/2002 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
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TUSCALOOSA - On the strength of a 19-2 run midway through the second half, Premier Players, a team comprised of former All-Americans and current WNBA stars, defeated the Crimson Tide women 78-72 in Alabama's preseason opener.
The Tide rallied and was able to cut the 12 point deficit to four before Wendi Willits made two free throws to ice the game with 11 seconds to play.
Jamilah Johns led all scorers with a game high 22 points on nine for 17 shooting from the field for the Tide. The senior from Starkville, Miss., along with senior Beth Vice and sophomore Natasha Gamble, also grabbed a game high eight rebounds. Gamble also contributed 14 points for Alabama.
"My teammates worked hard to get me the ball and I just tried to utilize that and get them the ball too," Johns said.
Alabama head coach Rick Moody was pleased with his team's work under the glass but stressed the need to protect the ball.
"I was pleased we rebounded the ball well," Moody said. "If we continue to get that many rebounds (50) game in and game out, we will put ourselves in position to win a lot of games."
"We did not take care of the ball," Moody said. "The goal going into the game was to have less than 15 turnovers. The stat sheet said that we had 19."
For the game Premier Players had four players score in double digits. Former Georgia All-American La'Keshia Frett led the team with 19 points in 30 minutes of action.
Alabama will close out its preseason schedule Sunday afternoon as the Tide will host Berry College at 4 p.m. before traveling to face Samford next Friday to open the regular season.
Alabama 40-32—72
Premier Players 35-43—78
