Tide Drops Heartbreaker to Kentucky
1/11/2007 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
TUSCALOOSA ?? Despite shooting over 50 percent from the three-point line, over 48 percent from the field and outrebounding visiting Kentucky by nine, the Crimson Tide women’s basketball team fell to 10-8 overall and 0-3 in the Southeastern Conference with a heartbreaking loss to the Wildcats, 63-62, in Coleman Coliseum Thursday night.
“It’s an unbelievably disappointed locker room,” Alabama head coach Stephany Smith said. “It’s amazing how bad it hurts when you fight so hard. They are as disappointed as they have been all season long because truthfully, we made more improvement since our last game from a toughness standpoint than I ever thought we could.”
The Tide controlled Kentucky throughout much of the game and appeared to be on its way to its first league victory late. Alabama led by as many as nine in the first half and went into the lockerrom up seven.
After UK battled back in the second half to take the lead, the Tide stormed back behind Navonda Moore to retake command. A Talisha Chandler layup with just over 46 seconds to play gave Alabama a three-point lead, but a layup by Kentucky’s Sarah Elliott pulled the Cats to within one point with 34 seconds left to play.
After an Alabama turnover, a UK miss and a missed free throw by Alabama, Kentucky controlled the ball with 12 seconds remaining. The Wildcats’ Samantha Mahoney drove the lane, put up a tough shot over an outstretched Tide defender and dropped it in to give Kentucky a one-point lead with 1.8 seconds to play.
Moore got off a desperation three-point shot as the buzzer sounded, but it was well short and Kentucky escaped with its second league victory.
The difference in the game for the Tide was its inability to limit the turnover numbers. Alabama committed 24 in the game, including two in the last three minutes, while UK recorded 15.
“Our team just doesn’t get the fact that we need to value the basketball better yet,” Smith said. “We just keep turning it over. I think because we play an up-tempo style, our players are confusing up-tempo with careless, and it’s something our staff needs to get across to them.”
Moore carried the Tide offense in the second half, scoring 16 of her game-high 22 points in the final 20 minutes. She repeatedly bailed the Tide out at the end of possessions and got hot from the three-point line, draining 4-of-6 from deep in the second half.
The senior from Jackson, Miss., who was battling a flu-like virus throughout the game, recorded her first double-double of the season by pulling down a game-high 10 rebounds as well.
Fellow senior Kate Mastin scored 15 points despite fouling out with over seven minutes to play, while Chandler finished with seven points and as many boards for the Tide.
Mahoney led Kentucky, finishing with 20 points on 7-of-20 shooting from the floor. Elliott added 15 for the Cats, while Jennifer Humphrey pulled down a team-high eight rebounds.
The Crimson Tide returns to the road in the SEC in its next outing when the team travels to Columbia, S.C., to face South Carolina on Sunday, Jan. 14.
