Tide Gives Smith First Win at Alabama
11/22/2005 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Tide Gives Smith First Win at Alabama
Tuesday, November 22, 2005
Box Score
TUSCALOOSA ?? The first win is always the toughest to get, even if you have already done it 153 times.
First year Alabama head coach Stephany Smith certainly knows that to be true, as her Tide team (1-1) fought off a tough Santa Clara outfit (0-2) to hand the highly successful head coach a 77-71 victory, her first for the Crimson Tide and the 154th of her career after eight great seasons at Middle Tennessee State.
"I felt really good about some of the things we did tonight," Smith said. "That was a quality team that we beat, a team that was able to do a lot of things well. We were fortunate enough to have our first win be so team-oriented, something that I am very proud of."
Smith watched her team reverse the trends prevalent in her first career loss in Tuscaloosa in tonight's victory, as the Tide seemingly solved some of the issues that denied the team a win in the season-opener Friday against Washington.
In that contest, Alabama could not establish itself on the boards, giving up 25 offensive rebounds and 20 second-chance points to the Huskies. Tonight, the Tide dominated the glass, putting in one of the best rebounding performances in recent history. Alabama outrebounded the visiting Broncos, 50-27, giving the team a +23 margin on the boards, the biggest such margin since Nov. 27, 2004.
The Tide also were able to hold an advantage over the high-scoring Santa Clara at the free-throw line, reversing the trend from the Washington game when the Tide attempted and made fewer free throws than the Huskies. Alabama got to the line early and often, knocking down 21 of its 34 tries as opposed to SCU's 12-of-29 performance.
Another pleasing outcome of the contest was the Tide's ability to share the ball. Alabama ranked last in the SEC a season ago in assists per game, averaging a measly 10.3 a night. The Tide racked up 13 in tonight's win, led by point guards Kate Mastin and Leah Drury, who dished three apiece.
On the receiving end of many of those assists, for the second time in as many outings, was junior Lauren Hill. Hill, who led the Tide with a phenomenal effort in her first outing, was nothing short of fantastic in her second. The New Orleans native recorded a game-high in points, scoring 20 points for the first time this season and just the second in her career.
"I was able to get in a little bit of a zone tonight," Hill said. "That let me take advantage of some of the things they were giving us defensively and I was able to exploit it. Late in the game, their defense was sagging a bit and a lot of scoring chances opened up."
Hill leads the Tide offensively in the young season, averaging 18.5 points per game. She has been extremely efficient this season, knocking down 48.2 percent of her field goal attempts. Hill also managed to reverse a negative of her own from the Tide loss on Friday, as she knocked down all six of her free throw attempts tonight after a 2-of-5 performance in the first game.
Dee Merriweather continues to give the Tide a boost from the post position. The senior followed up a double-double effort on Friday night with eight points and eight rebounds against Santa Clara. Merriweather leads the team on the boards, averaging 11.0 rebounds per game. She also recorded two more blocked shots, giving her 91 for her career and moving her up to a fourth-place tie with former Tide standout Terri Hillard (1980-84).
Kate Mastin, a junior guard from Boaz, had the best game of her young junior season. Mastin scored seven points, grabbed six boards and dished three assists in 34 minutes of action.
"Kate did a good job at the point tonight," Smith said. "She has only played the point for two weeks in practice. She has gotten so much better with her communication with me and her teammates in practice, and it has shown on the court."
The Tide jumped out early in the contest, taking advantage of their strength and size in the post. Alabama was also extremely active on the defensive end, getting in the face of Santa Clara's deadly outside shooting guards. The Tide held SCU to 5-of-13 from behind the arc in the opening half, going into the locker room with a 10-point advantage after leading by as many as 10.
The second half was a game of swings, as the Bronco's outside shooting began to heat up. Santa Clara, who took No. 8 Georgia to the buzzer before losing its season opener on Friday night, continued to prove it is one of the best deep-shooting teams in the country tonight, as they bombed seven treys in the second half, allowing them to cut in to the Tide lead.
But Alabama showed some resilience, fighting back each time Santa Clara threatened to take a lead. Eleven times in the second half the Broncos cut the lead to less than four points, but each time Alabama was able to fight back and regain a comfortable advantage.
Junior guard Marverly Nettles was instrumental to the Tide in these mini-runs, as the Birmingham native scored 10 points in the second half to help her team give Smith her first win at the Capstone. Nettles scored 17 points, the only player other than Hill to reach double figures.
Santa Clara was led by Ashley Graham, who scored 18 points, including a 4-of-10 performance from downtown. Michelle Cozad, who torched Georgia for 34 on Friday, was held to 15 points by the Tide defense.
The Tide will return to action on Friday, Nov. 25, in St. Thomas in the Virgin Islands. Alabama will face Virginia in the opening round of the Paradise Jam, slated to begin at noon central time. The Tide will play again on Saturday, Nov. 26, at a time to be determined.
