Alabama
Central Arkansas
Women's Basketball Tops Central Arkansas 87-76
11/14/2010 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Nov. 14, 2010
| Alabama 87, Central Arkansas 76 [Box Score] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Tierney Jenkins contributed 27 points in the win over Central Arkansas | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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TUSCALOOSA, Ala. - The women's basketball team improved to 2-0 on the season with an 87-76 win over the Central Arkansas Sugar Bears on Sunday at Coleman Coliseum. It is the first time since the 2004 season that the Crimson Tide has opened the season with back-to-back victories.
Senior forward Tierney Jenkins scored a game-high 27 points, two shy of her career-high, to go along with a team-high 11 rebounds. It was the 25th double-double of Jenkins' career. Junior guard Ericka Russell added 12 points, while senior forward Katie Hancock scored 10 points for the Tide.
"We had to run, and run, and run, and we changed the tempo of the game and got some easy baskets in the second half," Alabama head coach Wendell Hudson said. "From that point on, Central Arkansas was coming from behind, and they were willing to play that kind of basketball. They made some great shots, but they missed a lot of shots that they probably would have made if they had not been running the whole game."
Through two games this season, Jenkins is averaging 19.5 points and 13 rebounds, notching double-doubles in both games. The senior from Mt. Juliet, Tenn., leads Alabama in both statistical categories.
"Sometimes she (Jenkins) forgets how talented she is," Hancock said. "So it's kind of expected of her to come out and have good games, but sometimes she doesn't expect that from herself. As a team we have to let her know that's what we expect of her."
Trailing 42-41 at halftime, Alabama opened the second-half on a 15-6 run to seize control of the game. Russell ignited the run with back-to-back three pointers followed by a pair of baskets by Jenkins and freshman Kaneisha Horn to give the Tide a 56-48 lead less than four minutes into the second stanza.
Alabama held a comfortable working margin throughout the remainder of the half, never letting the Sugar Bears get closer than three points the rest of the way. A decisive 8-1 spurt by the Tide from the 7:38 mark to the 5:00 mark of the half all but put the game out of reach for Central Arkansas. Alabama would expound the lead to as much as 13 with less than two minutes remaining before closing the game out on the free throw line.
The Tide held a sizeable advantage down low, outscoring the Sugar Bears 44-20 on points in the paint and 25-11 on second-chance points. Additionally, Alabama's bench outscored the Central Arkansas bench 29-15.
"They weren't going away, and they didn't care who we were," Jenkins said. "We just had to pick up our defensive intensity and get our shots going."
The opening half was a tightly contested affair as neither team held an advantage of more than eight points. The lead traded hands twice with four ties between the Tide and the Sugar Bears over the first 4:08 before Central Arkansas seized the advantage for the final 15:32 of the half.
The Sugar Bears held a 35-27 lead at the 3:41 juncture before a 14-7 Alabama run, capped off by a Shafontaye Myers three-pointer, made the halftime score 42-41. Jenkins led Alabama with 14 points in the first half while Myers had six.
For Central Arkansas, Sidney Stewart scored a team-high 22 points while Megan Herbert added 20 points and 16 rebounds.
Next up, the Tide hosts N.C. State on Wednesday, Nov. 17, at 6 p.m. CT.
