Alabama Falls to Instate Rival Auburn, 63-58
1/7/2007 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
TUSCALOOSA ?? Vying for its first Southeastern Conference victory of the season, the Crimson Tide women’s basketball team put together a valiant comeback that fell just short against its instate rival Auburn, falling in a 63-58 loss in Coleman Coliseum on Sunday afternoon.
“We just have not yet learned to be a physical basketball team,” said head coach Stephany Smith. “We were physical for spurts of today’s game, but I thought Auburn was on every possession and that was the difference.”
Alabama (10-7, 0-2) fell behind by as many as 11 points after some sloppy offensive execution. The Tide shot 30.6 percent in the first half and despite improving its field goal percentage to an even 40 percent in the second half, UA failed to convert on several easy opportunities that would have cut the Tiger lead even further.
“We missed 11 layups in the first half alone,” said Smith. “Add those to five missed easy shots in the second half and a bunch of other small mistakes, and they add up when you are playing in a close game.”
The Tide pulled within four points after a Tamara Williams with 2:53 remaining, and a Talisha Chandler three-point shot cut the Auburn advantage to a single point with 2:23 left in the game.
After a pair of Tiger foul shots and a Kate Mastin layin, the Tide found itself down one with just over a minute to play. That’s when the Alabama rebounding effort fell short.
Alabama forced the Tigers into several tough shots, but Auburn kept on coming up with the loose ball rebounds to retain possession. Auburn finished with 19 offensive boards on the afternoon, several of which came in the final minutes of the contest.
The Tide pulled down a rebound, but Tiger guard Sherell Hobbs forced a turnover the next time down the floor. Auburn knocked down its foul shots down the stretch to earn the five-point win, its first in SEC play.
Alabama had three players in double figures in the scoring column, led by senior Navonda Moore, who finished with 15 points. Moore, who was honored before the game with a ceremonial ball recognizing her 1,000th career point that she scored on Dec. 30, added seven rebounds despite fouling out with over eight minutes to play.
Chandler turned in one of her best efforts for the second consecutive game. After setting a career high in a loss to No. 4 Tennessee on Wednesday, Chandler scored 11 points, grabbed eight boards, had two blocks and added three steals in the losing effort.
Mastin scored 10 points for the Tide, while Williams recorded her first double-digit rebounding game with 10 on the afternoon.
Auburn was led by Hobbs, who scored 15 points in the win. Jordan Greenleaf had a double-double for the Tigers, with 12 points and 12 rebounds and Whitney Boddie scored 12 points as well.
Alabama continues a two-game home stretch in conference play on Thursday, Jan. 11, when the Tide welcomes Kentucky to Coleman Coliseum. The game is set to tip at 8 p.m. and will be televised by Fox Sports Net.
