Alabama Women’s Basketball Takes on No. 6/6 South Carolina in SEC Opener

Sunday, January 1

Columbia, S.C.

1 p.m. CT

Alabama

University of South Carolina

Alabama Women’s Basketball Takes on No. 6/6 South Carolina in SEC Opener

12/31/2016 1:05:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Watch Live (SEC Network +)Listen Live (CTSN Radio Broadcast)Live Stats Game Notes

Crimson Tide and Gamecocks to tip off at 1 p.m. CT on ESPN2

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – The Alabama women's basketball team (12-1) opens Southeastern Conference play on Sunday, Jan. 1, in Columbia, S.C. against the sixth-ranked Gamecocks (10-1). Tip is slated for 1 p.m. CT on ESPN2.

THE BROADCAST

Sunday's game will be televised on ESPN2 with Tiffany Greene and Deb Antonelli calling the action.
The contest will also be broadcasted on the radio via the Crimson Tide Sports Network on 100.1 FM locally with Roger Hoover providing the play-by-play.
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 opens Southeastern Conference play on Sunday when it takes on the sixth-ranked South Carolina Gamecocks in Columbia at Colonial Life Arena. The Crimson Tide is 10-24 in SEC openers and won its last conference opener a season ago, 62-45, over LSU. Alabama's last league-opening win on the road came on Jan. 4, 1996, where the Tide outlasted Arkansas in overtime, 92-85.
Sunday's game marks the second time in the last six year where Alabama and South Carolina will ring in the New Year with a game on Jan. 1 in Columbia (Jan. 1, 2012).
Junior Meoshonti Knight leads four in double figures with 13.2 points per game. She is followed by fellow junior Hannah Cook (12.5 ppg), sophomore Shaquera Wade (12.0 ppg) and freshman Jordan Lewis (10.7 ppg). Wade averages a team-best 7.6 boards per game, while Lewis has dished out a team-high 4.4 assists per contest.
Alabama finished its non-conference season with a 12-1 record, which is its best mark since it went 12-1 prior to Southeastern Conference play during the 2000-01 season.
Jordan Lewis earned her second SEC Freshman of the Week honor on Tuesday after recording a 2:1 assist/turnover ratio, finishing with six assists and only three turnovers in 32 minutes played against UTEP. Lewis also scored 17 points, 12 of which came in the first quarter to spark the Alabama offense.

SHOT-BLOCKING SENSATION

Freshman Ashley Knight has been stellar thus far defensively in the paint. She already has 34 blocks on the season, for an average of 2.6 rejections per game.
Her 2.6 block average ranks the Austin, Texas native first in the Southeastern Conference and 16th nationally, while her 34 overall blocks is 11th in the country.
Knight is also now only five blocks away from entering Alabama's single season top 10 list and 44 away from the Tide's career top 10 list.

WATCHING WADE

Shaquera Wade's production all over the court has nearly doubled in every category from a season ago. The sophomore is averaging 12.0 points, a team-high 7.6 rebounds, 2.5 steals and 1.6 assists.
As a freshman, she finished with averages of 6.0 points, 3.9 rebounds, 1.2 steals and 1.0 assists. Wade also has three double-doubles this season, the most of anyone on the team.

LEADING LEWIS

Freshman Jordan Lewis has started every game at the point guard position for Alabama and has shown poise and confidence running the offense beyond her years. She is currently averaging a team-best 4.4 assists per game, ranking her fifth in the Southeastern Conference.
Lewis has also scored double-digit points eight times and led the team in steals four times and rebounding three times.

WILLIAMS CLOSING IN ON 1,000

Junior Ashley Williams is 108 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.

GETTING TO THE LINE

Alabama finished the 2015-16 season ranked 73rd in the nation in free throw attempts (615) and 77th in free throws made (430) while averaging 69.9 percent made per game.
The Crimson Tide is off to another strong start getting to the line a total of 336 times, 175 more times than its opponents (161).
Alabama ranks second nationally, and leads the SEC, in free throw attempts.

ABOUT SOUTH CAROLINA

South Carolina enters Sunday's contest with a 10-1 overall record with its only loss coming at Duke, 74-63. The Gamecocks have taken on four top-15 opponents already this season and won each of those games.
South Carolina has four averaging double-figure points, led by junior A'ja Wilson with 16.4 points per game. Senior Alaina Coates averages a double-double of 14.6 points and 10.7 rebounds per game. Five Gamecocks have recorded 20 or more assists thus far with junior Allisha Gray leading the way with 35 (3.2 apg).
As a team, South Carolina 81.5 points per game, 26.5 points more per game than its opponents, and 45.3 rebounds per contest.
South Carolina is under the direction of ninth-year head coach Dawn Staley. In the last five seasons, Staley's Gamecocks have won 25 games or more and reached a high of 34 during the 2014-15 campaign. South Carolina advanced to the NCAA Sweet 16 a season ago after reaching the Final Four the year prior. Staley owns a record of 198-77 in her nine seasons in Columbia and a 370-153 mark overall having coached at Temple for eight seasons prior.