Women’s Basketball Ready for NCAA Tournament Second Round Matchup with Maryland
3/23/2021 9:51:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Crimson Tide and Terrapins to tip at 12 p.m. CT Wednesday on ESPN2
SAN ANTONIO – NCAA Tournament play continues Wednesday for seventh-seeded Alabama women's basketball where it will face second-seeded Maryland in the second round. The game will be played at Bill Greehey Arena on the campus of St. Mary's University and will tip at 12 p.m. CT.
FOLLOW ALONG
Wednesday's game will air live on ESPN2 and can also be heard on the Crimson Tide Sports Network (WTBC-AM 1230 in Tuscaloosa) with Roger Hoover providing the play-by-play.
OPENING TIP
- Alabama heads into the second round of the NCAA tournament at 17-9 overall and finished the Southeastern Conference portion of its schedule at 8-8.
- The Tide recorded back-to-back eight win seasons in conference play for the first time since 1996-97 – 1997-98.
- Alabama ranks 33rd in the NET with eight of its nine losses coming to teams ranked 18 or better in the NET in No. 4 South Carolina (three times), No. 11 Texas A&M, No. 13 Georgia, No. 14 Tennessee, No. 17 Arkansas and No. 18 Kentucky.
- Alabama's 75.0 point-per-game average is the highest average it has had in nearly two decades.
- The Tide is No. 1 in the SEC in free throw percentage (75.5) and top two in the league in nearly every three-point shooting category.
- Alabama is led by its big three of Ariyah Copeland, Jordan Lewis and Jasmine Walker. Walker leads the way, averaging just shy of a double-double with 19.0 points and 9.5 rebounds, while Lewis adds 17.4 points, 4.4 assists and 4.3 rebounds per game and Copeland 14.8 points and 8.7 boards per outing.
- Walker and Lewis both earned All-SEC honors with Walker on the first team and Lewis on the second team. This marks the first time since 1998 that the Tide has placed two on the All-SEC First and/or Second Teams in the same season.
- Alabama has one of the top three-point shooters in the SEC and in the nation in Walker, who is top three in the league, and ranks top 20 nationally, in three-pointers per game (2.85), makes (74) and attempts (185) and is No. 2 in the SEC in percentage (40.0).
- Walker is also the only player in the SEC to rank in the top five in the conference in both scoring and rebounding.
- The Tide has one of the most experienced point guards in the SEC in Lewis, who has started every game she's played in since she arrived on campus in 2016. Her 129 games started is the most in program history.
- Lewis is also the SEC's active leader in assists (509) and is No. 4 in career steals (158), No. 4 in career points (1,573) and No. 14 in career rebounds (533).
NCAA TOURNAMENT NOTES
- Alabama is making its first appearance in the NCAA tournament since 1999.
- This is the Tide's 11th overall trip to the Big Dance.
- Alabama is 17-10 in the NCAA tournament, with its deepest run coming in 1994 when it advanced to the Final Four.
- The Tide made eight consecutive NCAA tournament appearances from 1992-99 and 10 overall (1984, 88).
- Head Coach Kristy Curry is taking her third team to the NCAA tournament after having made trips to the Big Dance at Purdue (2000-06) and Texas Tech (2011, 13).
SERIES NOTES
- Alabama and Maryland are meeting for just the second time in the series when the two take the court on Wednesday.
- The lone matchup between the Crimson Tide and Terrapins took place Dec. 22, 2001 in Cancun, Mexico at the Torneo Cancun de Basquetbol.
- Alabama won that game, 71-56.
ABOUT MARYLAND
- Maryland boasts a 25-2 overall record and is a two seen in this year's NCAA tournament.
- The Terrapins are one of the top offensive teams in the nation with six players averaging over 10.0 points a game while the team scores 91.5 per contest.
- In its first-round matchup, Maryland downed 15th-seeded Mount St. Mary's, 98-45, hitting 52.3 percent of its attempts from the floor while connecting on 25 of 30 tries from the free throw line.
- 2020 Big Ten Freshman of the Year and 2021 All-Big Ten First Team selection Ashley Owusu leads the way for the Terrapins, averaging 18.4 points, 5.9 assists and 5.8 rebounds per game.
- Maryland is directed by 2021 ESPN National Coach of the Year Brenda Frese, who is in her 19th season with the Terrapins. She holds a 511-130 record at Maryland and 568-160 overall mark in her 22 seasons as a head coach.
LAST TIME OUT
- Jordan Lewis had a career day to lead seventh-seeded Alabama to an 80-71 victory over 10th-seeded North Carolina in the first round of the 2021 NCAA Women's Basketball Tournament on Monday in the Alamodome.
- Lewis logged a near triple-double with a career-high 32 points, 11 rebounds and eight assists.
- She was one-point shy of tying the program's single-game scoring record in an NCAA tournament game, set by Yolanda Watkins in the quadruple-overtime contest against Duke in 1995.
- Lewis was joined in double figures by Hannah Barber (14), Jasmine Walker (13) and Ariyah Copeland (11).
- Copeland led all rebounders in the game with 12 boards for her 11th double-double of the season, while Megan Abrams added eight points, six assists, five rebounds, one steal and one block.
- For the game, the Crimson Tide outrebounded the Tar Heels 46-33 and knocked down 46.0 percent of its attempts from the floor compared to North Carolina's 37.1 percent.
- Alabama shared the ball extremely well, with 21 assists on 29 made baskets.
- Alabama led for nearly the entire game with the only exception coming over a one-minute span in the first quarter.
- A three from Abrams at the 6:31 mark put the Tide in front, 6-2, and gave Alabama a lead it would not relinquish for the duration of the game.
- The Tide led by as many as nine in the opening frame and held a seven-point advantage following the first 10:00 of play, 22-15.
- Alabama extended its lead out to double digits with 6:33 to go in the second quarter off a three from Lewis, 29-19.
- North Carolina used a 10-2 run to cut the deficit to two, however the Tide pushed it back out to 10 by the half, 41-31.
- The Tar Heels made a run late in the third to pull within five, but Alabama outscored them 7-2 down the stretch for the 60-50 advantage heading into the final frame.
- With 3:15 to go, the Tide took a 14-point lead, its largest of the game.
- North Carolina pulled within seven late but was unable to get any closer by game's end.
- Lewis was the first player in the 2021 NCAA Women's Basketball Tournament to reach the 30-point plateau.
- She also moved up to No. 4 in career assists, surpassing Shelly Pyles (1984-88). Lewis now has 509 for her career.
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