Alabama Women?s Basketball to Open Exhibition Season Tuesday Night
10/30/2006 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
TUSCALOOSA ?? The University of Alabama women’s basketball team opens its 2006-07 season with an exhibition game against instate rival West Alabama on Tuesday, Oct. 31 at 7 p.m. in Coleman Coliseum.
The Tide enters its second year under head coach Stephany Smith after a 9-19 campaign in her first season at the helm of the Tide program. Alabama welcomes back a roster that includes five returning players in addition to seven newcomers to the program.
“The players are ready to play a basketball games after the last few weeks of practice,” Smith said. “It will be another opportunity to see how we react in game situations against a different team. This team is so hungry to learn and absorbs things so quickly that I am looking forward to another chance for this team, especially our six freshmen, to have another opportunity to learn and grow.”
Included among the five returning veterans for Alabama is senior guard Navonda Moore. Moore, who earned second team All-SEC honors last year as a junior and was named to the league’s preseason second-team earlier this month, is the team’s leading returning scorer. She averaged 12.5 points in 2005-06, including a 19.4 points per game average over her final nine outings.
West Alabama comes into the 2006-07 campaign after a 13-16 record a year ago. The Tigers lost its top two scorers from last season, but return forward Ashton Washington, the only returning UWA player who averaged more than 10 points-per-game in 2005-06.
The exhibition matchup between the two teams marks the second time in as many years that the Tide has opened its preseason slate against West Alabama. The Tide won last year’s exhibition opener, 69-46, on Nov. 5, 2005, in Smith’s debut at Alabama.
The exhibition opener features a Halloween Extravaganza in Coleman Coliseum, with student-athletes from Alabama teams handing out candy to all kids in attendance beginning at 6:15 p.m. A costume contest will be held at halftime and Alabama women’s basketball bookmarks will be given out to fans in attendance.
Alabama is scheduled to finish the exhibition season on Nov. 5 with a 2 p.m. matchup against Delta State in Coleman Colisuem. The regular season opens on Nov. 10 against Samford in Tuscaloosa at 5 p.m.
