Alabama
Vanderbilt
Women's Basketball Falls 70-61 to No. 24 Vanderbilt
1/28/2010 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Jan. 28, 2010
NASHVILLE, Tenn. - Despite a late 19-6 second-half run, the women's basketball team could not overcome and dropped a 70-61 decision Thursday night to No. 24 Vanderbilt in Memorial Coliseum. With the loss, the Crimson Tide drops to 9-12 on the season and 1-7 in the Southeastern Conference, while the Commodores up their overall record to 15-6 and 4-4 in the league.
"I am real proud of our team effort tonight," said head coach Wendell Hudson. "We never gave up and that says something about this team. This is a tough place to play, and what we saw out there tonight was this team growing up and learning how to perform in tough situations."
Junior Tierney Jenkins led the game in scoring with 21 points and 10 rebounds for her ninth double-double of the season and fourth in a row. The Mt. Juliet, Tenn., native also moved into ninth on the Tide's career rebound record list with her ninth board of the game. She has now collected 616 throughout her three seasons in the crimson and white.
"Tierney (Jenkins) was a big key for us tonight and really played like she wanted to be a leader," added Hudson. "She has been working and playing awfully hard and is showing she can be one of the top players in our league."
Sophomore Ericka Russell also notched double-figure points for the game with 15, while junior LaToya King led the Tide in assists with five.
Alabama put up the first points of the contest with less than 30 seconds off the clock thanks to a layup from Jenkins and went up by as many as six in the half. Vanderbilt, thanks to a pair of three-pointers, cut its deficit and eventually took the lead at the at the 7:11 mark to go in front 20-19. The Commodores finished the first on a 17-6 run, nine of which came from the free throw line.
Vanderbilt scored just 11 seconds into the second frame to take a 14-point lead, its largest of the contest to that point, at 39-25 off a layup from senior Jessica Mooney. The Tide gradually chipped away at the Commodore lead and pulled within six with 13:40 to play thanks to a Jenkins jumper. Vanderbilt, however, responded with back-to-back baskets to extend its lead back into double digits. The Commodores built a comfortable buffer, going ahead by 18 with 4:53 remaining, but Alabama wouldn't back down and used a 19-6 run, including nine unanswered, to pull within five points. The Tide ran out of clock in the game eventually losing by nine points.
For the game, Alabama shot 38.1 percent, while Vanderbilt managed slightly better at 40.0 percent. The Commodores took advantage of their 29 trips to the free throw line hitting 24, while the Tide was 11-of-15 in the game.
Next up, Alabama hosts the 18th-ranked LSU Tigers on Sunday, Jan. 31 in Coleman Coliseum. Tipoff is slated for 2:00 p.m. (CST).
