Alabama
13-2,0-0SEC
Mississippi Valley State
1-12,0-0SWAC
Alabama Rolls into 2024 with a 91-26 Victory over Mississippi Valley State
12/31/2023 8:16:00 PM | Women's Basketball
The Crimson Tide extends its win streak to six games as non-conference play concludes
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – The Alabama women's basketball team closed 2023 by defeating Mississippi Valley State, 91-26, inside Coleman Coliseum on Sunday afternoon. The Crimson Tide earned its 10th consecutive victory in Coleman Coliseum and its 25th straight regular-season non-conference win to improve to 13-2 on the season.
Four of Alabama's five starters scored in double figures, with Aaliyah Nye and Sarah Ashlee Barker leading the squad with 18 points each. Jessica Timmons (17) and Loyal McQueen (14) aided in the scoring effort, while Essence Cody collected seven rebounds and Karly Weathers picked up five assists.
With the win, Alabama reached the 13-win mark before the New Year for the first time in program history.
For Mississippi Valley State (1-12), Kerrigan Johnson led the team's scoring efforts with seven points.
Head Coach Kristy Curry Postgame Comments
"It's always good to come back from the holidays and have a chance to play before conference play and just to be able to get our feet back under us. I think the biggest thing with us is just to have everybody healthy and back out there, so it's good to see Naomi Jones return to the floor. It was good to be able to get a lot of minutes and kind of get our feedback under us, which is hard to simulate when your practice guys are out of town. We had a good crowd today; we appreciate everybody coming out and hope they'll be back in here on January 4th when we take on Ole Miss to start conference play."
Game Stats
- Alabama picked up its fourth-straight victory over the Devilettes, improving to 4-0 on in the all-time series.
- The Crimson Tide made 53 percent (17-32) field goal attempts, including 36 percent (5-14) from three-point range in the first half
- Alabama continued its impressive shooting effort by making each of its first seven attempts in the third quarter
- The Tide held MVSU to fewer than 10 points in all four quarters
- Alabama hauled in a season-high 59 rebounds and limited MVSU to 32 boards
- The Tide surpassed 50 rebounds for the first time since Dec. 18, 2022, when it earned 55 against Norfolk State
- Naomi Jones returned to the floor after missing nine games with an injury; the freshman played 12 minutes, scoring two points and blocking three shots
- Essence Cody earned the 100th rebound of her career with the first of her seven boards in the game
- The 65-point margin of victory is the seventh highest in program history
- The Crimson Tide scored more than 90 points for the third time this season
- MVSU's 26 points were the fewest allowed by UA this season
How It Happened
- After MVSU opened the scoring, the Crimson Tide went on a 11-2 run over 3:09 to grab an 11-4 lead and force a Devilette timeout
- Aaliyah Nye came out of the gates on fire on Sunday, the senior had 10 first quarter points, including two made three-pointers
- The Tide only surrendered eight first quarter points; this marks the fourth time this season the Tide has allowed less than 10 points in the opening quarter
- MVSU only managed four points in the second quarter, the fewest points that the Tide has allowed in a quarter this season
- Alabama continued its impressive offensive production in the second quarter, the Tide sparked a 13-0 run over 2:56 to force a MVSU timeout, and propel UA to a 35-point halftime lead
- The Crimson Tide outrebounded the Devilettes 27-11 in the first half
- Alabama dished out seven first half assists, Sarah Ashlee Barker, Jessica Timmons and Karly Weathers all with a pair of assists
- The Tide ended the first half on a 24-2 run
- UA forced 12 turnovers in the first half
- Alabama continued its hot shooting coming out of the locker room, the converted on each of its first seven shot attempts, including four three-pointers, to extend the Crimson Tide advantage to 67-16
- The Crimson Tide used a third quarter run of 19-1 over 4:44 seconds to increase the lead to 71-16, with under four minutes left in the third period
- Alabama outscored MVSU 26-9 in the third quarter, setting up a comfortable, 52-point lead for the Tide heading into the final quarter
- Much of the same in the fourth period, the Tide outscored the Devilettes, 18-5, and finished the game on a 15-3 run
- Jessica Timmons scored eight of her 17 total points in the fourth quarter
Next Up
- Alabama returns to action on Jan. 4 for its Southeastern Conference opener against Ole Miss in Coleman Coliseum
- The Crimson Tide will face the Rebels on SEC Network+ at 6 p.m. CT
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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