Nettles Layup at Buzzer Thwarts Arkansas Rally
1/15/2006 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Sunday, January 15, 2006
BOX SCORE
TUSCALOOSA ?? With just 27 seconds remaining in today's game against Arkansas, the Alabama women's basketball team faced the most unlikely of scenarios.
After dominating the action for 38 minutes against the visiting Lady Razorbacks, a flurry of Arkansas three-point baskets in the final two found the Tide facing its first deficit of the afternoon, trailing 73-72.
Thankfully for Alabama, first-year head coach Stephany Smith has a long memory.
Coming out of a Tide timeout, Smith called for a back-door play for junior Marverly Nettles, whose efforts had played such a large part in Alabama's spectacular performance up to that point. The play had worked to perfection for the Tide in the first half and Smith called Nettles number once again. It may have been the best call she made all day.
Lauren Hill caught the ball at the free-throw line and hit Nettles with a beautiful pass on a perfectly executed back-door pass with 23 seconds to go, giving the Tide a one-point lead.
"I remembered that we had run that play earlier in the game and it had been wide open," Smith said. "It worked to perfection, thanks to Lauren (Hill) and Marverly (Nettles) running the play just as we had called it. It was great execution at a time when we obviously had to have a basket."
The basket gave Nettles the final two of her team-high 15 points and gave Hill her third assist, tying her career-high.
"Coach Smith had a lot of confidence in me to call that play for our last shot," Nettles said. "Lauren made a great pass and it was right there for me. It was just good execution under a lot of pressure."
Arkansas had a chance to regain the lead, but Melissa Hobbs' jumper fell short and Hill was there for the carom. Hill, who was fouled after securing the most important rebound of the day, sank one of her two free throws to give Alabama a two-point lead with eight seconds to play. Kristin Peoples' deep trey clanged off the side of the rim and the Tide had its second straight win of the season in the SEC.
The victory marked the first time since January of 2004 that Alabama claimed consecutive league wins. It pushed Alabama to an even 8-8 on the season and moved the Tide to 2-1 in league play. Arkansas fell to 11-6 and 3-1 in the SEC.
Nettles' last-second heroics would not have been necessary if not for some torrid Arkansas shooting from behind the arc. The Lady Razorbacks drained 12-of-27 from downtown, including three in the final 2:50 to help Arkansas overcome a late Tide seven-point advantage. The 12 three-pointers equalled the most made against Alabama this season, as Santa Clara drained as many in an early-season game in Coleman Coliseum.
That shooting was the only thing that kept Arkansas in the game, as Alabama turned in an outstanding offensive performance in the game, particularly in the first half.
Alabama scored 46 points in the opening stanza while shooting an amazing 60.6 percent from the field, both season highs for the team.
Smith's triangle offense was humming to perfection and Alabama burned Arkansas on several occasions, allowing the Tide to score 16 fast-break points to the Lady Razorbacks' two. Just as impressive was Alabama's dominance in the paint, as the Tide racked up an amazing 46-8 advantage in points scored in the paint.
"It was fun to watch," Smith said. "We ran the offense closer to what it should be this afternoon than in any other game this season. I was proud of the way we executed. It wasn't perfect, but it was the best we have had so far this season."
The near-perfect execution allowed six Tide players to score in double-figures on the afternoon, the second time this season that Alabama had at least five players with more than 10 points in a game (Nevada).
Leading the way was Nettles, who scored 15 after averaging 16.0 per outing in her previous two games in SEC action. It was Nettles' ninth game in double figures this season and the 37th time in her career.
Harriet Barnes continued her impressive play in the post for the Crimson Tide. The junior from Birmingham had a game-high 12 rebounds to go with 14 points, the second double-double of Barnes' career. It also marked the third straight game in double figures in rebounds for Barnes.
Hill finished with 11 points, as did Dee Merriweather, who also blocked four shots on the afternoon to set a new season-high in that category. Kate Mastin and Navonda Moore chipped in with 10 points each.
The Tide committed 17 turnovers for the second straight game, tying a season low in miscues. Alabama, fifth in the NCAA in rebounding margin, outrebounded its opponent for the seventh-straight game.
Alabama's next contest will be on the road against one of the best teams in the nation when the Tide travels to Baton Rouge to face LSU on Thursday, Jan. 19. That game is slated to tip-off at 7 p.m.
