Women?s Basketball Bounces Back With 62-57 Victory
12/17/2007 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. ?? Just two days after a tough loss against UT-Chattanooga the Alabama women's basketball team rebounded with a 62-57 victory over Alabama A&M Monday afternoon from Coleman Coliseum. In front of 23 fifth grade classes, the Tide earned its second-straight home victory to improve to 4-7 on the season.
"I thought that we played hard and I'm proud for the win," head coach Stephany Smith said. "It was great to have that kind of home court advantage today."
In front of 2191 fifth graders, Coleman Coliseum proved to be a tough place to play. The Tide held the Bulldogs to 34 percent shooting in the second half and thwarted a late rally to earn the victory.
The Tide opened the contest with a 34-27 point advantage at the half after shooting 41 percent (14-for-34) in the period.
Five minutes into the second half, UA raced out to an 11-point lead (40-29) but AAMU then quickly climbed back into the contest on a 9-2 run.
With the score 58-55 with 1:12 left, Dedrea Magee and Talisha Chandler drilled four-straight free throws to seal the game.
"I thought Alabama A&M was very aggressive and did a great job," coach Smith said. "Their full and half court press caused us problems, but I thought eventually we got some easy looks that made them get back out of it."
Three Alabama players recorded double-figures in points. Freshman Tierney Jenkins led all scorers with 16 points and added a career-high 15 boards for her second double-double on the season. Every game Alabama has had a player tally a double-double, has turned into a Tide victory.
Jenkins shot 7-for-17 from the floor and grabbed 10 offensive rebounds in a career-high 30 minutes. Magee tallied 12 points aided by a 7-for-9 effort from the charity stripe. Magee also added six rebounds and four assists in 37 minutes.
Junior Camilla Blands nearly tallied a double-double with 10 points and nine rebounds. Blands recorded a game-high four steals and shot 4-for-8 from the floor in 37 minutes of action.
Felicia Drummond led the Bulldogs with 13 points on 6-for-14 shooting. Ashleonte' Samuel and Brittany Manning chipped in 10 points apiece.
Alabama shot 36 percent (21-for-58) from the floor and 73 percent (19-for-26) from the free throw line. Alabama A&M shot 40 percent (23-for-58) from the floor and 82 percent (9-for-11) from the charity stripe.
The size of the Tide enabled a 53-26 rebounding advantage. On top of Jenkins' 15 boards, Chandler added 11, 10 on the defensive side. On the defensive boards alone, the Tide was able to out-rebound the Bulldogs 29-26.
Alabama will continue its six-game home stand with a matchup against Hampton. Tipoff is scheduled for Thursday, Dec. 20 at 6:00 p.m. from Coleman Coliseum. Bama will host Jacksonville State on Dec. 22 to close out the 2007 slate.
