Alabama
West Alabama
Women's Basketball Runs Past West Alabama 76-49
11/7/2008 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Nov. 7, 2008
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. - The Alabama women's basketball team opened its exhibition slate with a 76-49 victory over West Alabama Friday night at Coleman Coliseum. The win unofficially hands head coach Wendell Hudson his first while at the helm of the Crimson Tide. Three different Alabama players recorded double digits in points.
"I feel like the team played at the pace that we need to play," Hudson said. "It's the first game with the lights on and the first real game we've had playing against another group of people. There were a lot of good things that happened. I thought defensively, we really got after West Alabama."
A trio of sophomores led Alabama in its exhibition opener. Forward Tierney Jenkins tallied a double-double with 14 points and 11 rebounds while guards Alyson Butler and Katie Hancock poured in 14 and 12 points, respectively.
The fast paced Alabama offense shot 46 percent (28-for-61) from the floor and knocked down 44 percent (8-for-18) of its threes to run away from the Tigers. The Crimson Tide out-rebounded UWA 42-32 and sported 20 assists to 17 turnovers.
"It shows us what we need to work on because we work against each other all the time so we know each other's weaknesses," Jenkins said. "So now when we play together it shows us, as a team, what we need to improve on."
Sophomore Varisia Raffington was perfect from downtown, collecting nine points - all from beyond the arc. After missing all of last season due to injury, Butler returned to the floor as an outside shooting threat. Butler was 6-of-10 from the floor and 2-for-5 from beyond the arc.
Junior point guard Dedrea Magee handed out a game-high nine assists in 21 minutes. West Alabama was led by Valerie Harris and Jenni Thomley. Harris paced the Tigers with 16 points on 7-for-12 shooting while Thomley added 12 on 5-of-8 shooting.
Alabama will open its regular season schedule against Centenary on Friday, Nov. 14 at 6:00 p.m. The contest will officially open the Hudson coaching era at the Capstone.
