Women?s Basketball Suffers 73-62 Loss to ETSU
1/2/2008 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. ?? After earning victories in its last three games and going undefeated at home for nearly a month, the Alabama women's basketball team suffered a 73-62 loss to East Tennessee State Wednesday night from Coleman Coliseum. After the day, UA moves to 6-8 overall while ETSU improves to 4-7.
"I believe that it was the first time this year that we were out-rebounded," head coach Stephany Smith said. "I think ETSU did a good job, especially in the second half, of pushing the ball in transition. We were pretty much nonexistent in our transition defense."
The Tide trailed after the first intermission 39-34 but fought back to a 54-52 lead with 10:05 to go in the ball game. The Lady Bucs then rallied off a 21-8 run to finish the game, including a 12-2 run in a five minute span to secure the victory.
Despite holding ETSU to just 39 percent (26-for-67) shooting, the Lady Bucs converted 18-of-25 free throws, including keys shots down the stretch to come away with their fourth win on the season.
For the first time this season the Tide were out-rebounded. The Lady Bucs grabbed 49 boards compared to the 38 by the Tide. The last time Alabama did not secure 40 rebounds was in the loss to Samford on Nov. 13.
UA shot 39 percent (24-for-61) from the floor and was 11-for-18 from the charity stripe. Freshman Tierney Jenkins led the Tide once again in scoring, amassing 18 points on 7-for-16 shooting. The newcomer grabbed eight boards, had five blocks and four steals in 30 minutes.
Sophomore guard Dedrea Magee was efficient with 12 points on 5-of-6 shooting while adding five assists in 35 minutes of play.
In her first game back since Nov. 23, freshman forward Caitlin Hollifield recorded eight points and tallied four rebounds with two blocks in 22 minutes.
ETSU was led by Siarre Evans and her 20 points on 9-of-15 shooting. Evans grabbed eight boards and had two thefts in 27 minutes.
Tara Davis and Latisha Belcher also recorded double-digits in points. Davis tallied 12 on 3-of-5 shooting, while going 2-for-3 from downtown. Belcher added 11 points on 5-of-10 shooting. TaRonda Wiles led all rebounders with 10 boards while chipping in six points.
UA will continue its six-game home stand with two more games. Alabama will host Southeastern Louisiana on Saturday, Jan. 5 at 2:00 p.m. from Coleman Coliseum. The Tide will then open SEC play the following week against the South Carolina Gamecocks on Thursday, Jan. 10 at 6:00 p.m.
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