Alabama
Georgia
Women's Basketball Loses Heartbreaker to Georgia 63-61
1/25/2009 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Jan. 25, 2009
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. - The women's basketball team (12-9, 0-6 SEC) fell in heartbreaking fashion to the Georgia Lady Bulldogs (13-7, 3-2 SEC), 63-61, at Coleman Coliseum Sunday afternoon. The Crimson Tide mounted a furious comeback with a 12-0 run over a 1:11 span to tie the game at 61-61 with 0:48 left.
However, Georgia's Porsha Phillips knocked down a jumper in the lane with 0:24 remaining to give the Bulldogs the lead, and Alabama could not score on its final possession allowing Georgia to escape with the victory.
"This team is not going to quit," head coach Wendell Hudson said. "They haven't quit all year. They believe in themselves, and they play together as a team. Even when they face a little adversity, they're not giving up the effort. The effort that this team is giving right now is what you want out of a program."
Three Alabama players scored in double figures led by freshman Ericka Russell who knocked down three shots from beyond the arc and a perfect 4-4 from the foul line to finish with 17 points. Sophomore Tierney Jenkins posted a double-double with 16 points and 11 rebounds to go along with a game-high three steals.
"We made a comeback at the end, and if we had played like that all game maybe the outcome would have been different," Jenkins said. "That hurts more than getting blown out by a team because we could have easily won; we only lost by two points. We're finally trying to show people that we can play with them."
Sophomore Varisia Raffington rounded out the double figure scorers for the Tide with 13 points on 6-12 shooting. Junior Dedrea Magee set the table for many of her teammates' field goals as she dished out a game-high seven assists on the afternoon.
For the game, Alabama shot 34 percent from the field compared to 51 percent for Georgia. The Tide kept things close by converting a perfect 10-10 from the free throw line and forcing the Lady Bulldogs into 25 turnovers that led to 26 Alabama points. Georgia held a 39-32 rebounding advantage, but the Tide grabbed 13 offensive boards compared to nine for the Bulldogs.
"Ten-for-ten from the free throw line, this team is doing some good things," Hudson said. "We had to have all of those to be in the basketball game. Everybody stepped up late in the game when they were tired to keep it where it was. It's a shame that this particular team right now with the effort they gave today had to come out with a loss."
Alabama closed out the first half on a 7-2 run capped off by a Russell three-pointer to enter the locker room trailing 34-29. Georgia jumped out to a 7-0 lead to start the game, but Alabama responded quickly with a 10-3 run to tie the score at 10-10. The Tide dished out nine assists on 12 field goals before the break. Jenkins scored 10 points in the first to lead Alabama.
Phillips led the Lady Bulldogs with 21 points, eight rebounds and two blocks. Angel Robinson made a strong contribution despite not scoring by grabbing 12 rebounds and passing out five assists.
The Tide travels to Nashville, Tenn. for its next game to take on the Vanderbilt Commodores Sunday, February 1. Tipoff is scheduled for 2 p.m. CT.
Alabama Head Coach Wendell Hudson
Opening Statement:
"Well the team is not going to quit. They haven't quit all year. They believe in themselves and play together as a team. Even when they face a little adversity, they're not giving up the effort. You can talk to them about not giving up and playing hard and good things happening and good things are happening we just aren't winning basketball games. That's the problem. Everybody equates good things happening with winning the game. The players may not see the immediate rewards of it but the program is being rewarded. We are playing hard and that's all you can ask the young ladies to do is to play hard and give their best effort and that's what they're doing right now. I think if you come out and watch the team play and don't enjoy then there is something wrong. The effort that this team is giving right now is what you want out of a program. Whether you win or lose, the effort is still there."
On the play of Tierney Jenkins:
"She played a lot of minutes. She really hung in there. Probably from a defensive stand point it was the best defensive game she's played by really moving her feet and doing some things on the defensive end like creating turnovers and steals. She got after it and played really well"
On the Tide's perfect night from the free throw line:
"Ten-for-ten from the free throw line, this team is doing some good things. We had to have all of those to be in the basketball game. Everybody stepped up late in the game when they were tired to keep it where it was. There are a lot of good things happening on this team. It's a shame that this particular team right now with the effort they gave today had to come out with a loss."
On the play of Varisia Raffington:
"She has done a good job of reading screens and coming off screens and knowing how to play. If you get her in the bottom position where someone is trying to put a post player on her, she's not a post player and she is able to go out on the floor and take the ball to the basket. She is now using her quickness against people and the result is that she's had some awfully good scoring nights."
On the second half play of Ericka Russell leading to the surge by Alabama:
"When you are playing hard it gives you a chance. The next step is that you have to score while you're playing hard. That's something we did, especially during those last 10 minutes of the ball game."
On the Tide's upcoming game at Vanderbilt:
"We have a whole week to prepare. This team is ready to go play Vandy from the standpoint of knowing we can play with them. Once you go around the league and play some of these teams again, you are ready to go play. Playing in Nashville, the way that court is and they way we try to teach our players to how play instead of just coaching them all the time and letting them play, I don't think that will affect us."
Alabama Sophomore Forward Tierney Jenkins
On the team's resiliency:
"We're finally trying to show people that we can play with them. We kind of made a comeback, and if we had played like that all game then maybe the outcome would have been different. That hurts more than getting blown out by a team because we could have won easily. We only lost by two points."
On having a rough day against larger opponents:
"Being a short post in the SEC, I guess I'm going to face that every single night. I just try to do whatever I can; if I have to out-quick somebody or something like that, whatever it is where I can kind of have an advantage. If someone's bigger than me I feel like I'm quicker than them and that's my advantage, so I have to use that."
Alabama Freshman Guard Ericka Russell
On shot choices:
"We took bad-decision shots. I think we were just trying to make something happen fast, but we regained our composure at the end."
On how close this team is to an SEC win:
"We're going to get a win. We're real close and we've bonded real well as a team. We just need to be able to finish the game at the end."
On Coach Hudson discussing finishing games:
"He talks about finishing a lot. We need to not make the small mistakes towards the end of the game that count, but we'll pick it up. We'll definitely get it together."
Georgia Head Coach Andy Landers
On pulling out the win after Alabama came back to tie the game in the final minute:
The important thing is coming out of here with a win. I'm really happy with that and I just hope our kids can be happy with it and understand at the same time that we shot the ball very well in the second half. If you give us twelve of those turnovers back and we go out there and execute, this has a chance of getting ugly, but because of our turnovers it became a game for the fans and not a game for Georgia.
On Angel Robinson's lack of offensive production:
We didn't do a very good job. We threw the ball away. You look at the turnovers and see it was our high-low game was often throwing the ball out of bounds. We just weren't giving her good opportunities to score and frankly the ones that we did give her, she wasted.
On the development of Alabama's Women's squad:
They're playing with much more enthusiasm and much more energy than they have played with in the last few years. That is obvious on both ends of the floor, defensively and offensively.
