Alabama Women’s Basketball Welcomes Georgia State for Annual 5th Grade Fastbreak Game

Thursday, December 15

Tuscaloosa, Ala.

11:30 a.m. CT

Alabama

Georgia State University

Tickets

Alabama Women’s Basketball Welcomes Georgia State for Annual 5th Grade Fastbreak Game

12/14/2016 1:31:00 PM | Women's Basketball

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Crimson Tide and Panthers to tip at 11:30 a.m. CT in Coleman Coliseum

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – The Alabama women's basketball team (7-1) returns to Coleman Coliseum for a matchup with the Georgia State Panthers (4-4) on Thursday at 11:30 a.m. CT. The game will serve as the Crimson Tide's annual 5^th Grade Fastbreak game, welcoming thousands of Tuscaloosa city and county 5^th graders.

THE BROADCAST

Thursday's game will be streamed on SEC Network + via the WatchESPN app with Eli Gold on play-by-play, Rick Moody as the analyst and Hannah Chalker on the sidelines.
The game will also be available via the Crimson Tide Sports Network on 100.1 FM locally, with Roger Hoover and Tyler Williams calling all the action.
Fans will be able to follow along with live scoring on RollTide.com and game updates will be available on Twitter at @AlabamaWBB.

OPENING TIP

Alabama returns to Tuscaloosa for its eighth home game of the season when it hosts the Georgia State Panthers on Thursday at 11:30 a.m. CT. The game will serve as the team's 10th annual 5th Grade Fastbreak game, welcoming thousands of city and county 5th graders.
The Tide is led in scoring by junior Meoshonti Knight, who is averaging 12.9 points per game. Sophomore Shaquera Wade paces Alabama in rebounding with 6.8 boards per contest, while freshman Jordan Lewis continues to be the team's leader in assists at 3.8 per outing.
Alabama has three student-athletes averaging double-figure points thus far. Joining junior Meoshonti Knight (12.9 ppg) is sophomore Shaquera Wade (11.8 ppg) and junior Hannah Cook (11.3 ppg). Freshman Jordan Lewis and junior Quanetria Bolton are just outside with 9.9 points and 9.6 points per contest, respectively.
The Tide is currently outscoring its opponents by 31.0 points per game (79.9-48.9) and outrebounding the opposition by an average of 14.1 boards per contest (50.2-36.1).
Alabama started the season 7-0 for the first time since 2000-01. The Tide dropped its first game last time out with a 70-59 loss at Georgetown.
After not shooting a free throw for the first five games of the season, junior Hannah Cook has gone 11-for-11 from the line in the last three contests.

WILLIAMS CLOSING IN ON 1,000

Junior Ashley Williams is 135 points away from becoming Alabama's 25th 1,000 point scorer in program history.
Should she reach that number this season, she would be only the 13th Crimson Tide student-athlete to reach the milestone in three years or less.

WILLIAMS EARNS UNDERGRADUATE DEGREE

Junior Ashley Williams completed her undergraduate degree in criminal justice in December and will begin work on her master's degree in January. Her jersey now has an SEC Graduate patch to signify her accomplishment.

LIMITING POINTS

Alabama has held its opponents to 15 points or fewer in 25 of 33 periods played this season.
Even more impressive is that in 12 of those 33 quarters, the Tide opposition has put up 10 points or fewer and in four quarters five points or fewer.

FIRST HALF DOMINATION

Alabama has scored 304 points in the first half of games this season, while its opponents have put up only 164. That averages out to 38.0 points at the half for the Tide compared to 20.5 for the opposition, a difference of 17.5 points.

BALANCED OFFENSE

One of Coach Curry's team goals for the season is to have at least four in double-figure points each outing.
The Crimson Tide reached that goal in five of its eight games this season as five recorded 10 or more points three times and four did so twice.
Alabama was just shy in its games against Georgia Southern, as three finished in double figures and one had eight, and Alcorn State, where three had double figures and two had nine points.

ALABAMA DOMINATING POINTS IN THE PAINT

Through eight games, Alabama has outscored its opponents 338-150 in points in the paint.
That averages out to 23.5 more points in the paint (42.3-18.8) for the Crimson Tide per game than the opposition.

ABOUT GEORGIA STATE

Georgia State enters Thursday's contest with a 4-4 overall record. The Panthers' last game came on Dec. 3 at Georgia Tech. Georgia State has played in two true road contest and holds a 1-1 record with a win at Morehead State, 68-50, and a loss last time out to the Yellow Jackets, 73-42.
The Panthers are led by senior Tiffany Holston, who averages team highs of 11.1 points per game and 9.5 rebounds per contest.
As a team, Georgia State is averaging 61.8 points per game, 1.7 points less than its opponents, and 41.8 rebounds.
The Panthers average 18 offensive rebounds per game, which ranks ninth in the nation.
Georgia State is under the direction of Sharon Baldwin-Tener, who is in her seventh season with the program. She holds a 72-116 record in her seven seasons as head coach at GSU and was 126-115 in eight seasons at East Carolina, where she coached from 2002-10.