Women's Basketball Tops Columbia at Seattle Times Classic
11/26/2004 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
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SEATTLE, Wash. - The University of Alabama overcame a sluggish start en route to an impressive 81-45 victory over Columbia on Friday afternoon in the opening round of the Seattle Times Classic.
The Crimson Tide improved to 3-0 on the year with the win and surpassed the 80-point mark for the third consecutive game. The win also snapped an eight game losing skid for Alabama away from Coleman Coliseum. The loss was the first of the season for Columbia, who fell to 2-1.
Alabama got a balanced performance on the offensive end as all 11 Tide players got in the scoring column led by sophomore Navonda Moore with 16 points. Freshman Chanel Johnson had the best game of her young UA career just missing a double-double with 11 points and a team high nine rebounds.
"It was good to get a win but we have a lot of areas to work on," said Alabama head coach Rick Moody. "Despite the final score we still made way too many mistakes. If we make that many mistakes in the championship game, it could be very ugly. I was proud of how we eventually turned things up especially on the defensive end."
Both teams got off to a slow start with Alabama leading just 6-2 with 13 minutes remaining in the opening half. UA eventually got rolling a bit pushing in front by as many 13 points (19-6) in the period. The Tide finished the half strong taking a 31-16 lead into the break.
While the Bama offense struggled some in the first half, the Tide defense was smothering forcing Columbia into 16 turnovers and holding the Lions to just 5-of-18 from the floor. Columbia did not score their first point until the 13:41 mark in the half.
After the break, Alabama continued its aggressive play outscoring the Lions 13-2 over the opening four minutes to put the game out of reach. The Tide maintained a 20+ point lead for the remainder of the game and closed things out with the 36-point advantage.
UA's defense was the real strength for the Tide forcing 21 Columbia turnovers in the game. Bama also finished strong under the glass winning the rebound battle 42-30.
In addition to continuing the Tide's season opening win streak, Friday's win was a historic one for Alabama head coach Rick Moody because it was the 300th of his career.
"It is very special to win my 300th game," said Moody in his 16th year at Alabama. "More important than it being a milestone win in my career, it keeps this team, this year undefeated. That is the great thing about the win today."
Alabama heads to the championship game of the Seattle Times Classic on Saturday afternoon where they will look to earn the program's 37th regular season tournament title and the 29th under Moody.
UA will face the winner of the Washington/Wisconsin-Milwaukee game on Saturday at 3 p.m. (PT). The game will be carried live on the radio at WTUSK 1420 AM in Tuscaloosa and via the internet at www.rolltide.com.
