Strong Second Half Gives Tide Second Home Win
11/17/2006 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
TUSCALOOSA ?? It was not a good start for the University of Alabama women’s basketball team, but a strong second-half performance was more than enough to lift the Tide to its second home victory of the 2006-07 season, as Alabama beat visiting Tennessee Tech, 71-56, in Coleman Coliseum.
“We are still a work in progress,” said head coach Stephany Smith. “All of our players, veterans included, are still learning our offense and defensive systems. But I thought that we fought hard in the second half and did a much better job on the defensive end.”
The Tide, who shot just 29.6 percent in the opening 20 minutes, its lowest shooting performance in a half this season, had just 28 points at the break and went in to the locker room down four. Alabama’s defensive effort wasn’t much better, as TTU buried five three-pointers and repeatedly found open players in its half-court offense.
In the second half, however, the Tide discovered its offensive rhythm, mostly due to its ability to force Golden Eagle turnovers and convert them into easy baskets. Navonda Moore ripped away two of her game-high five steals in a span of one minute early in the second half and went coast-to-coast on each to give Alabama a 41-39 lead that it would never surrender.
“There was no question that our defensive pressure helped us turn around our offense in the second half,” said Smith. “Navonda got a couple of steals and that seemed to help us on the defensive end. We are all learning to play man-to-man defense after playing so much zone last season, but it was good to see us take some positive steps.”
Leah Drury, another Tide senior, also provided a spark in the second half. The native of Greensboro drained a three-pointer and converted two layups as a part of her 11-point night that tied a career best and helped Alabama build a 14-point lead with seven minutes to play.
The Tide made enough plays down the stretch and controlled the boards to seal the victory. Alabama outrebounded the Golden Eagles, 42-to-25, and converted 72.2 percent from the free-throw line on the night.
Fellow guard Kate Mastin continued her strong shooting efforts, finishing with a game-high 17 points. Mastin, ranked sixth in career three-point shooting percentage in school history entering the game, knocked down 3-of-6 from behind the arc tonight. She added seven rebounds, a career-high two blocks and three steals to the winning effort.
Although five players scored in double figures for the Tide, the first time that had happened since last January, the most impressive line of the night might have belonged to true freshman Nikki Davis.
Davis, one of nine true freshmen in the nation to have started at the point guard position in her team’s season opener, scored eight points to go with eight assists, a block, four steals and a career-high nine rebounds. Her eight assists were more than any other Alabama player recorded in any game a season ago, and was the highest total for a Tide player since March 3, 2005, when Lateefah Joye had nine.
Nathalie Reshard posted a career high in points with 12, Moore had 11 and Harriet Barnes added 10 points for her first double-digit scoring effort of the season.
The Crimson Tide completes its two-game homestand on Sunday, Nov. 19, when Alabama welcomes Southeastern Louisiana to Coleman Coliseum. The game is set to tip-off at 3 p.m.
