Alabama
18-6,7-4SEC
Kentucky
10-13,2-9SEC
Alabama Captures Fifth Straight Road Win in 72-65 Victory over Kentucky
2/9/2023 9:14:00 PM | Women's Basketball
The Crimson Tide recorded a program best five-consecutive regular season SEC road wins with its victory on Thursday
LEXINGTON, Ky. – The Alabama women's basketball team defeated Kentucky, 72-65, on Thursday night inside Memorial Coliseum, marking the first time in program history UA has recorded five straight Southeastern Conference regular season road wins.
Alabama (18-6, 7-4 SEC) had four players in double figures, led by a 22-point, 11-rebound double double performance from Brittany Davis. Aaliyah Nye posted 16 points, four rebounds and two steals while both Hannah Barber and Karly Weathers recorded 10 points in the win.
Kentucky (10-13, 2-9 SEC) was led by Jada Walker, who had 15 points, four boards and two steals. Robyn Benton tallied 14 points and three boards, while Maddie Scherr had 11 points and three rebounds.
Alabama Head Coach Kristy Curry Said
"First of all, I just want to say that I thought that the University of Kentucky did an amazing job tonight with their Play4Kay game. To see so much pink, and y'all know that tonight was about raising awareness for something that's much more difficult than just playing in a basketball game. So, really, a credit to a great environment. Great awareness for Play4Kay tonight, and I know our team felt honored to participate in such a great environment.
"At the end of the day, I just thought our kids really were resilient. We had a lot of adversity early in the game. Going into half, we were able to cut into it a little bit and then it's just always about your response. And I thought our kids responded in a big way, being able to make some open looks, we adjusted our defense a little bit and went more zone. You know coaches make adjustments but it's really the players, so it's a credit to our kids tonight for stepping up and being able to make some adjustments and finding a way to get enough stops for us to get some momentum in the third and get some easy baskets."
Game Stats
- Alabama snapped an 11-game streak against Kentucky as UA recorded its first win over the Wildcats since 2014
- Jada Rice has tallied three or more blocks 13 times this season, knocking away three UK shots in the game
- Davis has scored 20-plus points in three out of the last four games
- Additionally, Davis captured her third double double of the season and her 10th double double performance at Alabama
- Megan Abrams returned to action after missing six games due to an injury
- Alabama shot 45.1 percent from the floor and 46.4 percent from distance, making 13 three pointers in the game
- Kentucky was 38.7 percent from the floor and 33 percent from beyond the arc
How It Happened
- Kentucky jumped out of a 10-10 tie, scoring 10 of the next 15 points to hold a 20-15 advantage at the end of the opening stanza
- The Wildcats opened the second quarter with six unanswered points to make it an 11-point game (26-15; 7:46)
- A trio of three pointers in a little over a minute by UA made it a one-possession game as the Tide closed the gap to 26-24 with 4:45 to play
- Hannah Barber (3) and Karly Weathers (2) combined for five three pointers in the second quarter as UA trailed by two (33-31) at halftime
- In addition to Barber's nine points, Davis scored eight in the half as UA shot 36.7 percent from the floor and 44.4 percent from distance
- The Wildcats were 50 percent from the field and 28.6 percent from distance
- A hot start to the third quarter saw Alabama capture nine of the opening 11 points to give UA its first lead since the opening quarter
- The Tide continued to hold the advantage in the third, outscoring Kentucky 9-7 over the final three minutes of action to take a 49-42 lead heading into the final quarter
- Five points to open the fourth from Aaliyah Nye made it a 12-point game (54-42)
- A 12-3 run that began with 4:39 to play and ended at 0:59 on the clock brought the Wildcats within six points (65-59)
- Seven points from the charity stripe over the final minute of action kept the Tide in the lead as Alabama took a seven-point victory
Next Up
- Alabama returns home to face Auburn on Sunday
- The game will tip off at 4 p.m. CT on SEC Network
- Sunday's game is the Crimson Tide's annual Power of Pink/ Play4Kay contest
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