Women's Basketball Opens Home Slate on Tuesday
11/16/2009 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Nov. 16, 2009
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. - The women's basketball team plays its first home game of the 2009-10 season Tuesday when it hosts Jackson State in Coleman Coliseum. Tipoff is slated for 5:00 p.m. (CST).
"We're excited to play our first game at home tomorrow," said head coach Wendell Hudson. "We learned a lot about our team on the road this past weekend and got some good experience. Playing one neutral game followed by a road game gave us some good preparation early on. We're hoping to take all the things we've learned and transfer that here to our home court."
The Crimson Tide opened the season in Corpus Christi, Texas at the Holiday Inn Emerald Beach Tip-Off Tournament where it went 1-1. In Alabama's opening game, redshirt freshman Candace Sykes registered 16 points and junior Varisia Raffington scored four huge points down the stretch to help elevate the Tide over Tennessee Tech 73-68. Raffington would finish the game in double-figures with 13 points, while classmate Tierney Jenkins collected 13 points and 10 rebounds against the Golden Eagles. Sophomore Carmen McCoy was solid on the boards for Alabama pulling down a career-best 12 rebounds, nine of which came on the defensive end. In Saturday's championship matchup, the Tide fell 96-90 in overtime despite five players finishing in double figures. Junior LaToya King had a breakout game offensively with 23 points. Joining King was senior Tamara Williams with 14 points, Jenkins with 13, senior Dedrea Magee with 11 and sophomore Kayla Robinson with 10. Jenkins also collected a game-high, and career-best, 17 rebounds to finish with the 14th double-double of her career. At the conclusion of the final game, both Jenkins and King were named to the All-Tournament Team as voted on by participating coaches and sports information directors.
Jackson State enters Tuesday's contest with a 1-0 record having beat Tennessee State 74-63 Saturday at home. Five Lady Tigers scored in double figures led by senior Phenicia Taylor with 25 points, eight rebounds and three assists. Jackson State shot the ball well against the blue and white Tigers finishing the game at 43.9 percent from the floor, including 71.4 percent from three-point range. In addition, the Lady Tigers connected on 19-24 attempts from the charity stripe.
Alabama and Jackson State have met six times in program history with the Tide winning all of the previous meetings. The last time Alabama and Jackson State played each other was Dec. 6, 1996 in Tuscaloosa with a final score of 78-44. In its wins, the Tide has averaged nearly 80 points against the Lady Tigers with a high of 92 on Dec. 9, 1995.
Admission for the women's basketball game is $5 for adults and $3 for youth 18 and under, but the ticket office will begin charging $12 and $8, respectively, at halftime due to the doubleheader with men's basketball. In addition, those who present a ticket to the men's game will be let into the women's game free of charge. Season tickets for regular-season games are currently on sale for $40 for the general public and $25 for University of Alabama faculty and staff. Tickets can be purchased online by clicking here or by calling the Alabama Ticket Office at 1-877-TIDETIX (843-3849). Tuesday will also be the last opportunity to take part in Beat Auburn/Beat Hunger. Fans are encouraged to bring canned goods to the game to help benefit the West Alabama Food Bank.
For those unable to attend, live stats will be available and can be found by clicking here. In addition, a radio broadcast of the action can be found on the Crimson Tide Sports Network. For local channel information, click here.
