Alabama
Auburn University
Alabama Women’s Basketball Begins Final Week of Regular Season at Auburn
2/19/2017 1:28:00 PM | Women's Basketball
Crimson Tide and Tigers to tip at 6 p.m. CT on SEC Network
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – The Alabama women's basketball team (16-10, 4-9 SEC) tips off the final week of the regular season on Monday at Auburn Arena against the Tigers (15-12, 5-8 SEC). The game is slated to tip at 6 p.m. CT on the SEC Network.
THE BROADCAST
Monday's game will air live on the SEC Network with Brenda VanLengen and Carol Ross on the broadcast. The game can also be heard on the Crimson Tide Sports Network with Roger Hoover calling the action.
OPENING TIP
Alabama hits the road for its final two road games of the regular season, beginning with Monday's trip to Auburn. In the earlier meeting in Tuscaloosa, the Tigers came away with a 66-55 victory. The Crimson Tide led after three quarters, however Auburn outscored Alabama, 25-11, in the fourth to claim the victory.
Auburn has won seven of the last eight meetings in the series. Alabama's last win over the Tigers came on Jan. 22, 2015, 51-50, in Tuscaloosa, and the Tide's last victory in Auburn came on Feb. 17, 2011, 59-51.
Last time out, junior Coco Knight had a career performance with 18 points, eight rebounds and three assists to lead Alabama in its 65-57 win over Tennessee. The victory made two in a row for the Tide over the Lady Volunteers, which is the first time UA has won consecutive games against Tennessee.
Juniors Hannah Cook and Ashley Williams are both close to reaching the 1,000 point milestone. Cook currently stands at 949 points, 51 away from 1,000, while Williams is only 44 points away from the mark at 956.
Freshman Ashley Knight has 59 blocks on the year, which ranks No. 2 in the SEC and 24th in the nation. She currently stands at No. 3 on Alabama's single-season top 10 list and is two away from the No. 2 spot, which is held by Tausha Mills (1997-98). Yolanda Watkins holds the Crimson Tide record at 68 blocks, which she achieved during the 1993-94 season.
Auburn enters Sunday's game with a 14-7 overall record and a 4-3 mark in Southeastern Conference play. The Tigers have lost their last two straight, falling to Kentucky (60-64) and at Missouri (53-68).
COCO SHINES IN LAST THREE GAMES
Junior Coco Knight has been a huge boost off the bench the last three games for Alabama. Over that span, she's averaged 11.3 points, 4.3 rebounds and 2.0 assists in 19.3 minutes per contest. In the Crimson Tide's win over Tennessee, Knight had a season-high 18 points and eight rebounds in addition to a season-high tying three assists.
TIDE POSTS BACK-TO-BACK WINS OVER LADY VOLS FOR FIRST TIME
With Alabama's 54-46 win over Tennessee on Feb. 28, 2016, and the Crimson Tide's 65-57 victory against the Lady Volunteers on Feb. 16, 2017, UA recorded its first set of consecutive wins over Tennessee in program history. Head Coach Kristy Curry is also now just the second coach of the Tide women's basketball team to collect multiple wins against the Lady Vols, joining Ken Weeks, who was the coach for the other two wins against Tennessee in 1981 and 1984.
COOK MOVES UP CAREER THREE-POINT CATEGORIES
Junior Hannah Cook has been one of the best shooters from long range since arriving on campus and has moved her way into the Alabama record books in every three-point category for a career. She currently has 183 makes, which ranks eighth and is 10 away from the No. 7 spot held by Monique Bivens (2001-05). Cook's 536 attempts is also eighth, 12 away from Bivens, who is also seventh in that category. In three-point percentage for a career, Cook stands at No. 10, hitting 34.1 of her attempts.
BOLTON AMONG ALABAMA'S TOP 10 IN CAREER BLOCKS
With her 24 blocks thus far this season, junior NeNe Bolton moved into Alabama's top 10 in career blocks. Heading into Monday's game she has 90 total, which ranks seventh. She is now one block away from the No. 6 spot currently held by Nikki Hegstetter (2012-16).
ABOUT AUBURN
Auburn heads into Monday's game with a 15-12 overall record and a 5-8 mark in Southeastern Conference play. The Tigers have lost their last five straight after beating Alabama in Tuscaloosa on Jan. 29.
Auburn is 6-5 at home this season with two of those wins coming against league opponents.
The Tigers are led by the dynamic senior duo of Katie Frerking and Brandy Montgomery. Frerking leads the team in points (16.2 ppg) and rebounds (6.3 rpg), while adding 2.8 assists and a team-best 2.6 steals per contest, while Montgomery chips in 14.1 points, 3.0 rebounds and 1.5 steals per game. Sophomore Janiah McKay is the team's leader in assists at 3.6 per outing.
Auburn is under the direction of Terri Williams-Flournoy, who is in her fifth season as head coach of the Tigers. She's led Auburn to 19 or more wins in three of her previous four seasons and has reached postseason play three times, including the NCAA tournament a season ago. Prior to taking over in Auburn, Williams-Flournoy served as head coach at Georgetown (2004-12). She also had assistant stops at Southwest Missouri State (2002-04), Georgia (1996-02) and Georgetown (1992-96). Williams-Flournoy enters Monday's game with an 86-73 record in her five season at Auburn and a 229-177 overall mark as a head coach.
