Alabama
Northwestern
Women's Basketball Tops Northwestern, 72-70
3/20/2011 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
March 20, 2011
| Alabama 72, Northwestern 70 [Box Score] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Tierney Jenkins posted her 20th double-double of the season with 18 points and 12 rebounds. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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EVANSTON, Ill. - Senior Tierney Jenkins converted on a layup after grabbing the offensive rebound with seven seconds left on the clock to lift the women's basketball team (18-14) over Northwestern (19-14), 72-70, on Sunday at Welsh-Ryan Arena. The Crimson Tide will now take on Toledo in the Sweet 16 of the Women's National Invitation Tournament on Tuesday at 7 p.m. CT.
"We wanted to take the last shot and not give Northwestern an opportunity to score," Alabama head coach Wendell Hudson said. "Our team played as hard as they could play today. It was a hard-fought game all around with two teams that wanted their seasons to continue. Fortunately, we came up on the winning end. I am really proud of this team, and I think we grew up a little more today."
Jenkins led a trio of Alabama players with 18 points. She was followed by junior Ericka Russell with 16 points and senior Varisia Raffington, who added 12 points. Jenkins also pulled down a game-high 12 rebounds for her 20th double-double of the season, while senior LaToya King dished out seven of the Tide's 18 assists.
Alabama got off to a hot start thanks to a 6-0 run with just over one minute played. A 7-0 swing in favor of Northwestern gave the Wildcats its first lead of the game at the 12:47 mark, but the Tide responded with eight unanswered points to get back in front. Alabama led by three or more for the duration of the half until senior Beth Marshall hit a three-pointer at the buzzer to bring Northwestern within two, 38-36, at the break.
The Wildcats tied the game after scoring the first basket of the second half with 18:27 on the clock. There were two more ties before Northwestern took its second lead of the contest with a layup at the 13:27 mark. Jenkins put the Tide back in front on the next possession, but the Wildcats would, again, tie the game. A pair of three-pointers by Russell extended the Alabama advantage out to six with 10:42 remaining. Northwestern rallied to tie the score at 70 with 30 seconds to go giving the Tide the opportunity to take the last shot. Jenkins put-back layup as the clock ran down put Alabama in front for the final time.
For the game, the Tide shot 46.2 percent hitting 30 of its 65 attempts, while Northwestern was 52.2 percent from the floor, connecting on 24 of its 46 attempts. Alabama tied a season-high 19 steals and forced 24 Wildcat turnovers.
