Tide Women Drops Game at North Dakota State
12/21/2005 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Wednesday, December 21, 2005
BOX SCORE
FARGO, N.D. ?? The Alabama women's basketball team wrapped up a two-game road swing Tuesday with a 68-56 loss to North Dakota State.
Marverly Nettles led the way for the Crimson Tide (4-5 overall) with 16 points and four assists while Dee Merriweather hauled in nine rebounds. Freshman Camilla Blands also chipped in two points and an impressive defensive effort her best performance of the season. However, it wasn't enough to overcome a slow start.
"Obviously we got off to a poor start," Alabama head coach Stephany Smith said. "We didn't play well offensively in the first half. I was happy with how we fought back in the second half, but it wasn't consistent enough to get the win. I was pleased with the performance of Marverly (Nettles). She was very aggressive and she did a good job of getting to the line and making her free-throws."
Nettles was a perfect eight-for-eight from the free-throw line Tuesday night. As a team Alabama shot 74 percent from the free-throw line. It marked the second consecutive game that Alabama eclipsed 70 percent from the charity stripe.
Despite shooting well from the free-throw line, Alabama fell behind in the game early. The Tide made just four field goals in the first half and trailed by 15 points at halftime. The Tide trailed by as many as 21 points in the game. However, Alabama stepped up the intensity at both ends of the floor in the second half and managed to claw its way back into the game. Alabama shot 48.2 percent from the floor in the final 20:00 and forced 21 NDSU turnovers to get back within striking distance.
After trailing by double-digits for most of the game, the Tide finally got within eight points with 6:19 left to play in the game on a Nettles free-throw. Bama's defense then stopped the Bison for a third consecutive trip down the floor before Merriweather answered on the offensive end with a another free-throw to cut the lead to seven. That, however, would be as close as Alabama would get. Despite having several opportunities to pull closer, Alabama was unable to convert on the offensive end. Twice Tide players were whistled for a lane violation that wiped out a made free-throw. The failure to convert hurt and the Bison took advantage, stretching the led back out to 11 points on its next two possessions and putting the game away.
After completing the two-game road-trip, Alabama will return to Coleman Coliseum Thursday to take on Georgia Southern. The game is slated to begin at 2 p.m.
