Women?s Basketball Drops Heartbreaker To Louisiana Tech
12/5/2007 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. ?? The Alabama women's basketball team took the second winningest program in women's college basketball history to the wire but fell in the final seconds 62-61. Freshman Daleisha Carn led the charge for the Tide, pouring in a career-high 20 points. After the day, Alabama moves to 2-6 on the year while Louisiana Tech improves to 4-2 on the season.
"I think that we grew up a lot tonight," head coach Stephany Smith said. "Tonight was the first time that I really got to talk about situations and how to score. It was the first time I had everybody's eyes and they were glued to me and receptive to the things that we were saying. I thought our preparation leading up to this game was solid despite the fact we only had eight players practice yesterday. I thought we fought hard and executed our offense for the first time. I think our defense just continues to get better."
The defense did exactly that to allow the Tide to rally back into the game. Down by as many as 12 points, Alabama held Tech scoreless from the seven-minute mark in the second half to take a five points lead (61-56).
The Lady Techsters then converted a four-point play on a deep shot by Nastassj Levingston with 39 seconds to play. Levingston hit the free throw to pull Louisiana Tech to within one (61-60).
The Lady Techsters then were able to get the ball back and after some close range misses, Shanavia Dowdell was able to grab a huge rebound and follow with a bucket to hand LTU the lead with seven seconds remaining.
Alabama was able to race down the court but were unable to convert, giving the Lady Techsters their second consecutive victory.
Three Techsters tallied double-digits in points with Levingston leading the way with 17. Levingston was 6-of-10 from the floor and 4-for-6 from downtown to pace LTU. JoKeirra Sneed and Dowdell followed with 11 points each.
Carn once again led Alabama in scoring, with a career-best 20 points on 9-for-14 shooting. Fellow newcomer Tierney Jenkins tallied 10 points and grabbed six boards.
Alabama continued its dominance on the glass, pulling down 50 rebounds to Louisiana Tech's 42. Sophomore Talisha Chandler recorded 10 boards and added five points.
UA held LTU, who was averaging 78 points a night and was shooting 43 percent to a 35 percent shooting clip (22-for-63). UA shot 35 percent (24-for-68) and was efficient from the charity stripe, converting 11 of 13 shots for a 85 percent mark.
The Tide will remain in the friendly confines of Coleman Coliseum for one more game. Alabama will host Saint Mary's for a Sunday matinee on Dec. 9 at 1 p.m. After the SMC contest, UA will return to the Volunteer State to face Tennessee-Chattanooga. Game-time is set for Saturday, Dec. 15 at 1 p.m. from The McKenzie Arena.
