Alabama Women’s Basketball Ends Homestand with No. 4 Mississippi State on Thursday
1/17/2017 9:36:00 PM | Women's Basketball
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – Alabama women's basketball (14-4, 2-3 SEC) closes out its three-game homestand on Thursday when it welcomes the fourth-ranked Mississippi State Bulldogs (19-0, 5-0 SEC) to town. The game is set to begin at 7 p.m. CT in Coleman Coliseum.
PROMOTIONS
Giveaway: 300 We Back Pat T-shirts
Residence Hall Challenge II
8 Hoo's Q 30 for 30: If the team scores 30 points in the first quarter of the game, everyone in the stands will receive 30 percent off from Hoo's Q.
Tuscaloosa Toyota Season Long Giveaways: Throughout the season, Tuscaloosa Toyota will be giving away prizes such as an iPad Pro 9.7", Beats headphones, $50 iTunes gift cards, $50 American Express gift cards and 43" LCD televisions.
THE BROADCAST
Thursday's game will air on SEC Network + 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.
WE BACK PAT
Thursday's matchup has been designated as Alabama's We Back Pat game, part of the SEC's annual week-long initiative, which is focused on bringing awareness and recognition to The Pat Summitt Foundation, a fund of East Tennessee Foundation, and its fight against Alzheimer's disease.
OPENING TIP
Junior Meoshonti Knight leads three in double figures with 13.1 points per game. She is followed by sophomore Shaquera Wade (12.0 ppg) and junior Hannah Cook (11.2 ppg). Wade averages a team-best 6.6 boards per game, while freshman Jordan Lewis has dished out a team-high 4.3 assists per contest.
Freshman Ashley Knight has 46 blocks on the year, which ranks No. 1 in the Southeastern Conference and 13th in the nation. She currently stands at No. 7 on Alabama's single-season top 10 list and is two blocks away from tying Leslie Payne at No. 6. Yolanda Watkins holds the Crimson Tide record at 68 blocks, which she achieved during the 1993-94 season.
Junior Ashley Williams is 73 points away from reaching 1,000 for her career.
BOLTON AMONG ALABAMA'S TOP 10 IN CAREER BLOCKS
With her 15 blocks thus far this season, junior NeNe Bolton moved into Alabama's top 10 in career blocks. Heading into Thursday's game she has 81 total, which is tied for eighth with DeeDee Davis (1983-87). Bolton is one block away from tying Tausha Mills (1996-99) for seventh place and 10 blocks away from the No. 6 spot currently held by Nikki Hegstetter (2012-16).
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 6.6 rebounds, 1.9 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 4.3 assists per game, ranking her fifth in the Southeastern Conference behind three seniors and a junior. Lewis has also scored double-digit points nine times, led the team in steals five times and rebounding three times.
WILLIAMS CLOSING IN ON 1,000 POINTS AND 500 REBOUNDS
Junior Ashley Williams is 73 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. She is also 16 rebounds away from 500 boards for her career.
ABOUT MISSISSIPPI STATE
Mississippi State is off to its best start in program history at 19-0. The Bulldogs are also 5-0 in Southeastern Conference play heading into Thursday's contest.
Mississippi State is led by junior Victoria Vivians, who averages a team-high 17.3 points per game. She is joined in double figured by fellow junior Morgan William at 11.1 points per contest. William is the team's leader in assists at 4.1 per game, while senior Chinwe Okorie is responsible for a team-best 6.4 rebounds per outing.
Last time out, the Bulldogs topped Ole Miss, 73-62. Mississippi State allowed only eight Rebel points in the first quarter while scoring 22. Vivians finished with a game-high 23 points, while senior Dominique Dillingham added 16.
Mississippi State is led by fifth-year head coach Vic Schaefer. He led the Bulldogs to the 2016 NCAA Sweet 16 after reaching the second round of the tournament in 2015. Schaefer was voted SEC Coach of the Year in 2015 and was a semifinalist for the Naismith National Coach of the Year that season. He is currently 109-46 in Starkville and 189-156 overall as a head coach.
