Alabama
7-2,0-0SEC
Syracuse
6-1,0-0ACC
Alabama Drops Road Contest at Syracuse, 79-73, in 2023 ACC/SEC Challenge
11/30/2023 9:02:00 PM | Women's Basketball
The Crimson Tide falls to 7-2 on the year
SYRACUSE, N.Y. – The Alabama women's basketball team dropped a hard-fought contest at Syracuse, 79-73, Thursday night in the ACC/SEC Challenge at JMA Wireless Dome.
Sarah Ashlee Barker led the Crimson Tide (7-2) with 18 points and eight assists, while Aalyiah Nye scored 17 points and added five steals. Essence Cody also reached double digits as she set a career-high with 14 points while pulling down a game-high nine rebounds.
The Orange (6-1) were led by Alyssa Latham (23 points and 12 rebounds) and Kyra Wood (10 points and 13 rebounds) each picking up a double double.
Head Coach Kristy Curry Postgame Comments
"Credit to Syracuse, they were able to make some plays down the stretch. I thought our bench play was poor, but overall thought we played poorly as far as rebounding the basketball. It was atrocious and something we continue to talk about, work on and continue to coach, but you can't get outrebounded by 22 on the road and expect to win basketball games."
Game Stats
- The contest marked the first ever meeting between the two programs
- The Orange shot 49 percent (29-59) from the floor, 50 percent (7-14) from three and 82 percent (14-17) from the line
- In comparison, Alabama shot 41 percent (27-66) from the floor, 48 percent (10-21) from beyond the arc and 60 percent (9-15) from the charity stripe
- Syracuse dominated the boards, outrebounding the Tide, 47-25
- UA forced 24 turnovers, including 12 steals, converting those into 25 points
- Essence Cody scored 12 of her 14 points in the second half
How It Happened
- Although Alabama jumped out first with a 5-0 lead, Syracuse responded with a 7-0 run to lead after the first quarter of play, 16-13
- Down by 14 in the second quarter, Aaliyah Nye drained a pair of back-to-back threes including a buzzer beater to bring the game within six points (29-35) going into the locker rooms
- Sarah Ashlee Barker and Aaliyah Nye led the Tide in scoring at halftime with nine points each
- UA shot 50 percent (5-10) from deep in the first half
- Alabama tied the game up at 45, hitting six of its first seven shots from the field to start the second half
- The Orange responded by scoring the game's next 10 points to take the lead for good at 55-45
- The Tide was able to trim the lead to five points (55-50) headed into the final frame
- UA went on a late 8-0 run to bring the game to within two points (69-67) before the Orange put the game out of reach
Next Up
- Alabama returns home Wednesday, Dec. 6, taking on Coastal Carolina inside Coleman Coliseum in its annual 5th grade fastbreak game
- The Crimson Tide will face the Chanticleers at 11 a.m. CT and will stream live on SEC Network+
For all the latest information on the team, follow @AlabamaWBB on X, Instagram, and Facebook. General athletic news can be found at UA_Athletics on X and Instagram and Alabama Athletics on Facebook.
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