Alabama
7-3,0-0SEC
North Carolina
8-1,0-0ACC
Career Days for Davis and Abrams Leads Alabama Past Undefeated North Carolina, 83-77
12/15/2019 6:27:00 PM | Women's Basketball
Sophomores Brittany Davis and Megan Abrams set career highs in scoring to lead the way for the Crimson Tide
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – Sophomores Brittany Davis and Megan Abrams played lights out to lead Alabama past previously undefeated North Carolina, 83-77, inside Coleman Coliseum Sunday afternoon. Davis poured in a career-high 23 points, while Abrams tallied a career-best 21 points in the victory. With its second consecutive win, the Crimson Tide improves to 7-3, while North the Tar Heels suffered their first loss of the season and fall to 8-1.
Davis' 23 points led the Tide in scoring, while sophomore Abrams bested her previous career-high of 19 points with 21 on Sunday. Junior Ariyah Copeland had her third consecutive game in double figures, scoring 12 points and grabbing nine rebounds and sophomore De'Sha Benjamin contributed 11 points in the win.
Brittany balled out. ????
— Alabama Women's Basketball (@AlabamaWBB) December 15, 2019
?? 23 points (career high)
?? 10-of-12 shooting
?? 3-of-5 from beyond the arc
?? 5 boards#RollTide #GritAndGratitude ???? pic.twitter.com/kEXBi8b2PW
From Coach Curry
- "It was just a great win against a really good North Carolina team that's going to have a lot of success this season," said head coach Kristy Curry. "I'm just really proud of our kid's toughness. I think any time you can outrebound North Carolina the way we did down the stretch on a plus-eight situation, and the balance we had with four players in double figures, is really key. I thought our bench really helped us. I'm just really proud of our kids today. And it's Ariyah's (Copeland) birthday. These kids really wanted to get that win for her birthday. It's Eli Gold's birthday, so we had a couple special birthdays today that were really special to our program, so it's just a good win."
Quarter-By-Quarter
- Alabama got off to a hot start, jumping out to an 11-3 lead after the first four minutes of play. North Carolina came right back with a 13-2 run to set the score at 16-13 at the first media timeout. The two teams went back-and-forth, with UNC leading 26-23 at the end of the first quarter.
- UA began the second quarter on a 9-3 scoring run to take back the lead 32-29. The Tar Heels responded with 11 straight points to turn the game in UNC's favor, 41-34. The Tide cut into North Carolina's lead, but trailed 43-40 at the half.
- Alabama went up 50-45 to start the third quarter, but North Carolina answered back, taking a 57-54 advantage with three minutes remaining in the quarter. The teams exchanged baskets, with UNC going ahead 64-62 at the start of the fourth quarter.
- Both teams traded leads in the final period, before the Tide pulled ahead 79-72 with 2:29 on the clock. The Tar Heels cut the lead to two with 1:31 remaining, but a clutch jumper with a toe on the three-point line from Benjamin gave Alabama the four-point edge with 23 seconds to go. It was Benjamin that sealed the game for good by knocking down two free throws with three seconds left, giving Alabama the 83-77 victory.
No. 23 with 23 points. ??https://t.co/ti9d23DASp#RollTide #GritAndGratitude ???? pic.twitter.com/TRrrecZmux
— Alabama Women's Basketball (@AlabamaWBB) December 15, 2019
Player Spotlight
- Davis was on fire, shooting 10-of-12 (83 percent) from the field and 3-of-5 (60 percent) from beyond the arc.
- In addition to her career-high in scoring, Abrams led the team with a 19 plus/minus and shot an efficient 9-of-15 from the floor.
- Copeland was one rebound shy of recording her seventh career double-double with 12 points and nine rebounds.
- Senior Ashley Knight became Alabama's all-time career block leader with three blocks in Sunday's game. Knight passed UA great Yolanda Watkins and currently has 188 blocks for her career.
?? With 3 blocks in today's game, Ashley Knight has broken the all-time blocks record at Alabama!! ??
— Alabama Women's Basketball (@AlabamaWBB) December 16, 2019
Congrats A.K.!! ???? Celebration footage coming soon...??#RollTide #GritAndGratitude ???? pic.twitter.com/GtUlB0wtEu
Stats of the Game
- The Tide controlled the boards, outrebounding the Tar Heels 42-35 for the game.
- UA dominated the Tar Heels in the paint, scoring 52 points to UNC's 32 points.
- UA was on fire from the floor, shooting 33-of-66 (50 percent).
- The bench continued to produce points for Alabama, with the Tide reserves outscoring the Tar Heel bench, 36-8.
Up Next
- Alabama will play its fourth game of its six-game home stretch Tuesday, Dec. 17, when it takes on Bethune-Cookman in the annual 5th Grade Fastbreak game. Tipoff is set for 11:30 a.m. CT and will be broadcast on SEC Network+.
For all the latest information on the team, follow AlabamaWBB on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook. General athletic news can be found at UA_Athletics on Twitter and Instagram and Alabama Athletics on Facebook.
