Alabama
Central Arkansas
Women's Basketball Falls at Central Arkansas, 58-46
11/15/2011 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Nov. 15, 2011
Central Arkansas 58, Alabama 46 [Box Score]
Jasmine Robinson had a team-high 13 points in the loss at Central Arkansas
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CONWAY, Ark. - The women's basketball team suffered its first loss of the 2011-12 season, falling 58-46 at Central Arkansas on Tuesday at the Farris Center. The Crimson Tide is now 1-1 on the season, while the Sugar Bears improve to 2-0.
Central Arkansas capitalized on its 18 trips to the free throw line, scoring 22 points from the stripe, while also collecting 23 offensive boards resulting in 21 second-chance points.
"We did not play very good basketball tonight," said Alabama head coach Wendell Hudson. "We gave up 23 offensive rebounds and had 24 turnovers. This team is going through a little bit of growing pains together. We just could not get five people on the same page tonight. Like I told the team after the game, two games does not make up a season. When we play together, we are a pretty good basketball team."
Sophomore Jasmine Robinson finished as Alabama's leading scorer with 13 points, while also adding a game-high four steals. Junior Kyra Crosby collected a team-best seven rebounds in addition to three thefts.
A free throw by Robinson got the Tide on the board first at the 17:40 mark, however neither team was able to get much going offensively in the early part of the game. Alabama would hold onto the lead until a pair of free throws put the Sugar Bears in front 8-7 with 8:58 to go. Central Arkansas extended its lead to as many as eight in the half, taking advantage of eight trips to the free throw line. The Tide pulled within two with 15 seconds to play thanks to an 8-2 run, but a last second put-back for the Sugar Bears gave Central Arkansas a 24-20 lead at the break.
Despite being down at the half, Alabama did end up with a better shooting percentage from the floor, going 9-for-31 (29.0 percent), while Central Arkansas was 6-for-29 (20.7 percent).
The Tide scored three points to open the second to close the gap to one point, but two more quick trips to the free throw line for the Sugar Bears put the lead back at five with 17:27 on the clock. Central Arkansas would take its first double-digit advantage of the game at the 7:23 mark, leading 44-34. Alabama would come within eight, but would not get any closer for the duration of the game.
Next up, Alabama returns home to take on Northwestern State on Friday, November 18. Tipoff in Foster Auditorium is slated for 6:30 p.m. CT.
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