Women's Basketball Prepares for Eastern Michigan
11/22/2007 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
GRAND BAHAMAS - The University of Alabama women's basketball team will spend the Thanksgiving holiday in paradise at the Grand Bahama Island for the Junkanoo Jam. Alabama will play two games while on the island with the first being a matchup against Eastern Michigan. Tipoff is slated for Friday, November 23 at 1 p.m. EST from St. George High School. Mick Gillispie will once again call the action on CTSN.
The Junkanoo Jam opener marks the first meeting between the two programs...Eastern Michigan is off to a 3-0 start under first-year head coach AnnMarie Gilbert...Alabama is in search of its first victory on the season.
Alabama held Arkansas State to no field goals in the in the last 7:30 of the game and were able to pull within a bucket, but the Indians held on to earn the 49-45 victory Sunday afternoon from Coleman Coliseum...Alabama once again put together a stingy defensive effort that held Arkansas State to just 28 percent shooting...for the third straight game the Tide held its opponent to under 10 field goals in the first half where UA went into the locker room with a 25-23 lead...Alabama out-rebounded Arkansas State 50-37 and blocked nine shots...Dedrea Magee forced two steals while Courtney Strauthers led the Tide with two blocks...Talisha Chandler led all players on the glass with nine boards in just 16 minutes...ASU then found some baskets in the second half to take a 47-36 lead with 7:30 to go. UA then clamped down and made it a game by denying ASU each time down the court to pull within two after a free throw by freshman Daleisha Carn...Arkansas State was able to seal the game with some key free throws with 11 seconds left on the clock...junior Camilla Blands had a good look to take the lead before the free throws, but the ball just rimmed out...freshman Tierney Jenkins led the way for the Tide, just missing a double-double with 10 points and eight boards in 24 minutes...fellow freshman Caitlin Hollifield added nine points on 4-of-5 shooting in 19 minutes while newcomer Daleisha Carn just missed double-digits for the first time in her career with nine points.
Alabama will hit the court for the third season under head coach Stephany Smith...Coach Smith welcomes back an experienced sophomore class in addition to a highly touted crop of freshman...all the sophomores who return for their second season for the Tide saw significant time on the floor as freshmen...the Tide returns down low the tandem of sophomores Talisha Chandler and Courtney Strauthers...Chandler averaged 7.2 points per game and a team-high 6.6 boards per contest...Strauthers averaged 4.7 points and 2.4 boards while finding action in 29 games...as a team, the Tide shot 41 percent from the floor and 31 percent from beyond the arc...Alabama averaged 60 points a game and grabbed 38 boards per contest...The Tide ranked in the top half in four statistical categories in the SEC in 2006-07, including fourth in steals with 10.43 per outing...Dedrea Magee started seven games toward the end of the season and each of her last five...Magee came on strong, logging career highs in points in two of her team's last five games while scoring nearly triple her average from the first 25 games in those final five outings.
The Eagles enter the Junkanoo Jam with a perfect 3-0 record and are coming off a 71-41 victory over Wright State... Sophomore guard Alyssa Pittman was named the Mid-American Conference West Division Player of the Week for the period ending Nov. 18, 2007. The honor marks the second time in her career she has earned the honor...Pittman helped the Eagles to a 2-0 week that included a 65-54 victory over Detroit, Nov.14, and a 74-41 rout of Wright State, Nov. 17. For the week she averaged 26.0 points, 5.5 rebounds, 1.5 assists, 1.5 steals...EMU was picked to finish third in the West Division according to the 2007 Mid American Conference preseason poll by the voting members of the MAC News Media Association...last season the Eagles finished 16-13 and placed second in the MAC...EMU played in the WNIT in 2006.
Alabama will participate in the Fifth Annual Junkanoo hosted by the Bahamas Basketball Federation. The Tide will be joined by Eastern Michigan, North Carolina State and Washington State in the Lucaya Division bracket, while Georgia,Virginia Tech, Prairie View A&M and Southern California will be in the Freeport Division bracket...Alabama will open up against EMU at 1 p.m. while NC State and Washington State follow at 3:20 p.m...the winner of both games will meet in the Championship game at 3:20 p.m. on Saturday...the consolation game will be played at 1 p.m.
The Alabama defense has kept opposing attacks at bay...the Tide have yet to allow an opponent reach 60 points and have held its opponents to under 10 field goals in the first half in each of the first three games...opponents are shooting a paltry 34 percent and sport a 25 percent mark from downtown...the Tide have out-rebounded its opponents by eight a game and are averaging six blocks per game...the last two contests the Tide have held its opponents to under 50 points.
Third-year head coach Stephany Smith got commitments by four preps to come play for the Tide, starting the 2008-09 season...from Alabama, Smith signed Ericka Russell; a 5-7 shooting guard from Northridge High School, and Carmen McCoy a 6-4 strong bodied center from Leeds High School...in addition, Kayla Robinson, a 6-3 power forward from Raymond, Mississippi and Candace Sykes a 5-10 multiple use guard from St Anne, IL outside of Chicago...Sykes is rated No. 58 overall in the nation by Hoopgurlz.com and No. 19 at her guard position.
Alabama will have a quick turnaround once it returns home from the Bahamas...UA will travel to Tennessee for an extended road trip, beginning with a contest against Belmont on Wednesday, Nov. 28 in Nashville...the Tide will then head to Cookeville to face Tennessee Tech on Friday, November 30.
