Alabama
24-10,10-6SEC
Texas
32-4,14-4Big 12
Alabama Concludes 2023-24 Season after Falling to Texas, 65-54, in Second Round of NCAA Tournament
3/24/2024 8:53:00 PM | Women's Basketball
The Crimson Tide finish the season with a 24-10 overall record
AUSTIN, Texas – The No. 8-seeded Alabama women's basketball team fell to No. 1 seed Texas, 65-54, Sunday night in the Second Round of the 2024 NCAA Women's Basketball Tournament. With the loss, the Crimson Tide finished one of its best seasons with a 24-10 overall record and 10-6 mark in Southeastern Conference play.
Although Texas led by as much as 15 points, Alabama responded multiple times to keep the score within 10 for most of the game.
The Tide's Sarah Ashlee Barker (17), Aaliyah Nye (14) and Loyal McQueen (12) all put double figures on the board in the losing effort. Barker and Essence Cody paced the team with six rebounds, which contributed to the Tide's 34 total boards.
Texas (32-4) was led by Madison Booker and Aaliyah Moore, who scored 21 points each.
Head Coach Kristy Curry Postgame Comments
"I just want to say congratulations to Texas, to Vic Shaefer and his staff, and to his kids. I have a lot of respect for the program and just want to congratulate them. I don't want to get up here and talk about all the things that we didn't do today, but I do want to mention that we've had 101 practices, as of yesterday, and we've been on a 10-month journey, with an incredible group of young women. In our program, we have three core values: grit, love and gratitude. The grittiness of this group and the love they have for the front of their chest, in a day in time where that's unique, and the love that they have for each other and the game and just the gratitude every day. I'm incredibly proud to be their coach, I'm incredibly proud of the 24 wins. We had two returning starters from a year ago and five returners in that locker room. The leadership of this group has been amazing. I told them how incredibly proud I was of them. We're not going to talk about what we didn't do well enough today – we're going to talk about all the things we did well on this 10-month journey with as special of a group as I've ever been with."
Game Stats
- The Crimson Tide shot 6-12 (50 percent) from the floor and connected on two three-pointers in the first quarter
- Sarah Ashlee Barker led the Crimson Tide in scoring for the 19th time this season and scored in double figures for the 26th time
- Aaliyah Nye made two three-pointers, bringing her season total to 108
- Essence Cody led the Tide with six rebounds, finishing the campaign with 221, while Barker's six boards brought her season total to 209
- Alabama shot 21-62 (33.9 percent) from the field, 5-18 (27.8 percent) from distance and 7-9 (77.8 percent) from the free throw line
- In comparison, Texas shot 24-60 (40.0 percent) from the floor, 1-5 (20.0 percent) from range and 16-21 (76.2 percent) at the stripe
- The Crimson Tide defense held Texas to its fourth-lowest scoring output of the season
How It Happened
- Texas scored the first four points of the contest, holding the Crimson Tide without a bucket for two minutes before Sarah Ashlee Barker scored the Tide's first points of the game
- The Longhorns would build an eight-point lead, but the Tide ended the first quarter on a 7-2 run to pull within three
- UT stretched its lead back to seven to open the second quarter, but again, the Tide responded with a 6-0 run to pull to within one
- The Longhorns opened the third quarter with an 8-0 run to extend its lead to 15
- Alabama slowly chipped away at the deficit, pulling to within eight points in the early seconds of the fourth quarter
- Texas outscored the Crimson Tide, 17-16, in the fourth quarter
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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