Alabama Women’s Basketball Welcomes in Southern for WNIT First Round Matchup
3/13/2018 2:12:00 PM | Women's Basketball
Crimson Tide and Jaguars will tip at 7 p.m. CT Wednesday in Coleman Coliseum
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – Alabama (17-13) will play its first game of the 2018 Women's National Invitation Tournament on Wednesday in Tuscaloosa when it hosts the Southern Jaguars (17-13) in Coleman Coliseum. Game time is set for 7 p.m. CT.
THE BROADCAST
• Wednesday's game will be available to watch on RollTide.com as well as Facebook Live.
• The game can also be heard on the Crimson Tide Sports Network on 93.3 FM in Tuscaloosa with Roger Hoover on the broadcast.
OPENING TIP
• Alabama is making its seventh appearance in the Women's National Invitation Tournament and third in a row. This is the first time under head coach Kristy Curry that the Crimson Tide has been the automatic qualifier out of the Southeastern Conference as the last two berths were as an at-large selection.
• Last time out, Alabama fell to Kentucky, 71-64, in the second round of the Southeastern Conference Tournament in Nashville.
• The Tide holds an overall record of 8-6 in the WNIT after last season's run to the quarterfinals. Alabama defeated Mercer (81-57), Little Rock (55-53) and Tulane (72-64) before falling at Georgia Tech (66-76).
• The Tide has advanced to the quarterfinals twice in program history, making it to the round of eight a season ago and in 2002 when it was a 32-team field.
• Alabama senior Ashley Williams was recognized as the SEC Player of the Week in addition to earning a spot on ncaaW's Starting Five on Feb. 19 after recording a pair of double-doubles in the wins at No. 11 Tennessee and at home against Auburn.
THE SERIES
• Alabama has won all three prior meetings against Southern, however the two teams have not played since the 2005 season.
• The series began on Jan. 5, 1985 in Tuscaloosa (W, 85-60) and continued on Dec. 1, 1989 (W, 91-40) in Houston at the Lady Cougar Classic.
• The last meeting took place in Mobile, Ala. at the South Alabama Classic on Dec. 29, 2005 (W, 66-51).
SCOUTING ALABAMA
• Alabama enters Wednesday's game with a 17-13 overall record and wrapped up SEC play with a 7-9 mark.
• UA is 11-5 in home games this season, which includes an 8-0 mark against non-conference foes.
• The Crimson Tide is led in scoring by senior Hannah Cook, who averages 11.7 points per game and in rebounding by fellow senior Ashley Williams, who averages 7.1 boards per contest. Sophomore Jordan Lewis leads the way in assists with 3.3 per game.
• As a team, Alabama is averaging 69.9 points in non-conference games, 14.0 more than its opponents, and is outrebounding the opposition 43.1-36.6.
• After finishing the 2016-17 season last in the SEC in free throw percentage, Alabama has jumped up to sixth, hitting 71.8 percent of its attempts as a team.
• In 23 of its 30 games this season, Alabama has had eight or more in the scoring column. In nine of those 22 games, 10 or more scored for the Crimson Tide.
SCOUTING SOUTHERN
• Southern also stands at 17-13 overall and ended its SWAC slate with a 14-4 mark to win the regular season title.
• The Jaguars advanced to the final game of the SWAC tournament, but fell to Grambling State by four, 72-68, to earn the automatic bid to the WNIT from the conference.
• Southern is led by SWAC Defensive Player of the Year Briana Green, who leads the team in points per game (17.6) rebounds per game (6.8), assists per game (3.0) and steals per game (2.5).
• The Jaguars rank 17th in the nation in turnover margin (+5.67).
• Southern is under the direction of 2018 SWAC Coach of the Year Sandy Pugh, who has been head coach of the Jaguars since 2000. This is the eighth postseason tournament berth for Southern under Coach Pugh in her 18 seasons at the helm.
COMMON OPPONENTS
• Alabama and Southern have played three common opponents this season in Auburn, Alabama A&M and Grambling. The Tide holds a 3-1 record with wins over both Tigers and Lady Bulldogs at home, while the Jaguars are 3-3 versus the group with a pair of wins over Alabama A&M and one against Grambling at home.
