Alabama
Texas A&M
Alabama Women’s Basketball Welcomes No. 16/17 Texas A&M to Tuscaloosa on Thursday
1/17/2018 2:25:00 PM | Women's Basketball
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – The Alabama women's basketball team (13-5, 3-2 SEC) will play its first of two home games this week on Thursday when it welcomes the No. 16/17 Texas A&M Aggies (14-5, 3-2 SEC) to town. The game is scheduled to tip at 7 p.m. CT in Coleman Coliseum.
PROMOTIONS
• Door prizes and pizza giveaway to students
THE BROADCAST
• Thursday's game will air on SEC Network + with Eli Gold and Rick Moody on the call.
• The game can also be heard on the Crimson Tide Sports Network on 93.3 FM in Tuscaloosa with Roger Hoover on the broadcast.
OPENING TIP
• Alabama will play back-to-back home games this week, beginning with Thursday's contest against No. 16/17 Texas A&M.
• The Crimson Tide and Aggies will be meeting for the seventh time in program history as the first game in the series was not played until Texas A&M joined the Southeastern Conference in 2012-13.
• The Aggies have won all six prior matchups, including a 69-48 decision last season in College Station.
• Thursday's game will be the third in the series in Tuscaloosa. The other four games were all played in College Station.
• Assistant coach Kelly Curry is graduate of Texas A&M University, while head coach Kristy Curry spent two seasons (1994-96) as an assistant coach in College Station.
SCOUTING ALABAMA
• Alabama enters Thursday's game with a 13-5 overall record and a 3-2 mark in Southeastern Conference play.
• UA is 9-1 in games played at Coleman Coliseum with the lone loss coming against then-No. 16/16 Missouri, 62-56.
• The Crimson Tide is led in scoring by senior Hannah Cook, who averages 11.9 points per game and in rebounding by fellow senior Ashley Williams, who averages 6.7 boards per contest. Sophomore Jordan Lewis leads the way in assists with 3.9 per game.
• Sophomore Ashley Knight leads the team and ranks third in the SEC and 15th nationally in blocks per game with an average of 2.67. She is currently tied with Dee Merriweather for the No. 2 spot in career blocks at Alabama (138) and is 49 away from tying Yolanda Watkins (187) for most in program history.
• As a team, the Crimson Tide is averaging 69.0 points per game, 11.8 more than its opponents, and is outrebounding the opposition 41.9-36.6.
• After finishing the 2016-17 season last in the SEC in free throw percentage, Alabama has jumped up to fifth, hitting 71.7 percent of its attempts as a team.
• The Crimson Tide is averaging roughly 10 points more per game than its opponents in points in the paint (31.6-22.6) and bench points (25.7-16.4).
• In 16 of its 18 games this season, Alabama has had eight or more in the scoring column. In seven of those 16 games, 10 or more scored for the Crimson Tide.
• The Crimson Tide started its SEC season with a 3-1 record, which was its best mark since the 1997-98 season.
SCOUTING TEXAS A&M
• Texas A&M heads into Thursday's game with a 14-5 overall record and a 3-2 mark in league play.
• The Aggies are 3-1 in road games this season, which includes a 1-1 mark against SEC foes.
• Texas A&M is led in scoring (21.4 ppg) and assists (5.1 apg) by freshman Chennedy Carter. Junior Anriel Howard leads the Aggies in rebounds with 12.8 boards per contest.
• As a team, Texas A&M is outscoring the opposition 77.2-68.2 (+9.0) and outrebounding teams 42.3-34.1 (+8.2).
• The Aggies are coached by Gary Blair, who is in his 15th season in College Station and 33rd overall as a head coach. Blair has had 26 20-win seasons, guided his teams to 23 NCAA tournaments and coached Texas A&M to the 2011 NCAA Championship.
