Alabama
Cal State Bakersfield
Raffington's 33 Leads Women's Basketball over CSU Bakersfield 87-79
11/28/2009 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Nov. 28, 2009
SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. - Junior Varisia Raffington poured in a career-high 33 points to lead the Alabama women's basketball team past CSU Bakersfield 87-79 Saturday at the Courtyard by Marriott Holiday Beach Classic. With the win, the Crimson Tide moves to 4-2 on the season, while the Roadrunners drop to 2-3 overall.
"Varisia's entire stat line was great tonight," said head coach Wendell Hudson. "This was a terrific all-around night for her. She also played great defense in the game which is something that doesn't show up on the final box."
Raffington became the first Alabama player to score 30-plus points in a game since Kate Mastin did so on Feb. 22, 2007 against Mississippi State. The Tallahassee, Fla. native shot 14-22 from the floor and was a perfect 4-4 from the free throw line. She also tacked on eight rebounds and one assist in her 36 minutes of play. Joining Raffington with double-figure points was junior Tierney Jenkins with 14 and sophomore Ericka Russell with a season-high 16 points. Jenkins also had 14 rebounds for her fourth double-double of the season. Dedrea Magee had 12 of Alabama's 27 assists setting a new career high for the senior.
Both teams shot particularly well in the first half with Alabama at 46.2 percent and CSU Bakersfield at 40 percent, however, the Tide held the Roadrunners to just 23 percent for the final eight minutes of the stanza. After a brief Alabama lead to open the game, CSU Bakersfield jumped out on top and held the edge for much of the half with the Tide keeping close behind. With 1:15 remaining in the first, Raffington buried her 15th point of the game to give Alabama the 38-36 advantage. Sophomore Carmen McCoy tacked on two more for the Tide with five seconds left on the clock for a four-point margin at the half 40-36.
Alabama continued to lead throughout the second half and took its first double-digit lead at the 15:03 mark thanks to a Raffington jumper. The Roadrunners failed to go away easily and managed to cut their deficit to four with under eight minutes to play. The Tide went on a scoring tear from there putting up a 19-3 run for the 85-67 advantage over the next four minutes. CSU Bakersfield would attempt to chip away at the Alabama lead once again, but ran out of time.
Three-pointers kept the Roadrunners in the game as they hit 11 from beyond the arc compared to the Tide's five. Alabama shot a stellar 50.7 percent from the floor in the game including 56.3 percent in the second half. The Tide continued its dominance on the boards with 53 in the contest, while holding CSU Bakersfield to just 24 in the game.
"One of the best things about this game for us was we competed for near close to 40 minutes," added Hudson. "We had the lead and played with it for a good amount of time. Towards the end we made a few turnovers and could have taken care of the ball a little better, but all-in-all, this was a great game for us."
Alabama returns to the hardwood Sunday when it takes on Illinois at 4:00 p.m. (CST) in the Tide's final game of the Courtyard by Marriott Holiday Beach Classic. The Illini opened the tournament with a 56-47 win over Cal Poly.
