Tide to Open Regular Season, Stephany Smith Era on Friday
11/16/2005 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
 |
|
Game Notes 
TUSCALOOSA - It has taken awhile, but the Alabama women's basketball team finally has a place it can call home.
As with the rest of the athletic department, the women's basketball team has been patiently awaiting its chance to play in its new home, the newly renovated Coleman Coliseum.
"We are all very proud of the wonderful additions to the Coliseum," Smith said. "We want are thankful for the leadership of Mal Moore, the support of President Witt and all of the help from our fans and donors for giving us a home that we can all be very proud of. It has been a long process, but the end result is certainly worth it."
The Tide, having played two exhibition games in the CAVE, will officially kick-off its 2005-06 season and inaugurate the Stephany Smith era when the team faces Washington on Friday, Nov. 18. Tip is scheduled for 5:30, as the Tide searches for its first win under Smith and its second in as many years over the Huskies.
Smith, who enters her first season at the Capstone after eight seasons on the sidelines at Middle Tennessee State, will lead a team that returns 10 players from last year's 14-15 team. After two exhibition victories in her first two games on the sidelines for the Tide, Smith will coach in her first official game as a head coach of an SEC team.
"It really hasn't hit me yet," Smith said. "I have been so busy getting this team ready for the season that I haven't had much time to think about it. But I'm sure when the National Anthem plays on Friday night, there will be a moment when I realize where I'm at."
Washington, under 10th-year head coach June Daugherty, has been a perennial contender in the Pac 10 Conference. The Huskies have been to four NCAA Tournaments under Daugherty, most recently in 2003. Washington was 14-16 last season, finishing below .500 for just the second time in Daugherty's UW career.
The game will be the second meeting between the two schools. The first came last season when the Tide beat Washington, 76-56, in Seattle. The victory gave Alabama the title in the Huskies' Seattle Times Classic. Marverly Nettles scored a game-high 19 points to lead the Tide to victory in that contest.
Alabama continues its early-season home swing on Monday, Nov. 21, when the Tide plays host to Santa Clara. That contest is slated to tip-off at 7 p.m. in Coleman Coliseum.
