Alabama Opens SEC Tournament in Second Round Against Kentucky Thursday

Thursday, March 2

Greenville, S.C.

25 mins following game 5

Alabama

Kentucky

Alabama Opens SEC Tournament in Second Round Against Kentucky Thursday

3/1/2023 4:03:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Game Notes Watch Listen Live Stats

The Crimson Tide’s game against the Wildcats will tip off 25 minutes after the conclusion of game five on SEC Network

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – The sixth-seeded Alabama women's basketball team will open the 2023 Southeastern Conference Tournament on Thursday, facing 14^th-seeded Kentucky in the second round of action at the Bon Secours Wellness Arena in Greenville, S.C. The game will begin 25 minutes after the conclusion of game five on SEC Network.

The Game

Alabama (20-9, 9-7 SEC) vs. Kentucky (10-18, 2-14 SEC)
Series History: 54th meeting vs. Wildcats (Kentucky leads 35-18)

How to Follow

SEC Network
- Courtney Lyle (PxP), Carolyn Peck (Analyst) and Brooke Weisbrod (reporter)
CTSN
- Roger Hoover (play-by-play) on the call
Updates will be provided on the team's official Twitter account, @AlabamaWBB

About the Tide

The Crimson Tide enters the second round of the conference tournament ranked 28^th in the NET, holding a top-30 NET ranking all season
Alabama finished the regular season tied for fifth in league standings to mark the Tide's best regular season finish since the 1998-99 season
Alabama continues to be one of the top teams from distance in the country
UA leads the conference and ranks seventh nationally in three-point percentage (38.1) and leads the conference and ranks 11^th nationally in three pointers per game (8.9)
Additionally, Alabama ranks in the top 50 for field goal percentage with a 44.1 percentage
Aaliyah Nye's consistency and precision from beyond the arc ranks her first in the conference and sixth nationally in three-point percentage (45.4)
Jada Rice leads the conference in blocks, in addition to ranking 12^th in the NCAA in blocks (64) and 18^th in blocks per game (2.21)
Brittany Davis has paced the team all season in points (17.6 ppg), rebounds (7.1 rpg) and steals (1.8 spg)
Hannah Barber leads the team with 2.8 assists per game, while Jada Rice ranks first for the Tide in blocks with 2.2 a game
Alabama is coming off one of its best regular season performances
The Tide recorded back-to-back 20-win seasons for the first time since 2016-17 and 2017-18 and second time under head coach Kristy Curry
UA's win over Vanderbilt (2/16) marked the first time Alabama reached the 20-win milestone during the regular season since 1997-98
Additionally, the win was the ninth victory in conference play, marking the first time since 1997-98 that the Tide has secured nine SEC wins in a season

The Wildcats

Kentucky enters the game ranked 88^th in the NET Rankings
The Wildcats are coming off a 72-57 win over Florida in the first round of the SEC Tournament
Prior to its tournament win, Kentucky concluded the regular season on a seven-game losing streak
Thursday's game marks the second time this season that the two teams will go head-to-head with Alabama winning the regular season meeting 72-65 in Lexington, Ky.
Kentucky ranks 17^th nationally for turnovers forced per game (20.43)
Additionally, the team ranks 39^th in steals per game, averaging 9.8 a contest, which is good for the third-best average in the conference
Jada Walker leads the SEC in steals, ranking 34^th nationally with 68 steals this season
Additionally, she ranks second in the conference and 42^nd nationally in steals per game (2.43 spg)
Maddie Scherr leads the SEC from the charity stripe, making 91.8 percent from the free throw line to rank third nationally
Robyn Benton averages a team-leading 16.7 points per game
Scherr leads the team in rebounds (5.3 rpg), assists (4.2 apg) and blocks (0.9), while Jada Walker leads the team in steals (2.4 spg)

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.

-UA-