Alabama
Tennessee
Alabama Women’s Basketball Travels to Knoxville for Matchup with Lady Vols
2/14/2018 1:13:00 PM | Women's Basketball
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – The Alabama women's basketball team (15-10, 5-7 SEC) continues its road swing on Thursday when it takes on the No. 11/11 Tennessee Lady Volunteers (21-4, 9-3 SEC) in Knoxville at Thompson-Boling Arena. Game time is set for 5:30 p.m. CT.
THE BROADCAST
• Thursday's game will air on the SEC Network with Paul Sunderland and Debbie Antonelli 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 heads to Knoxville for its second to last SEC road game of the season on Thursday.
• Thursday's game will be the first, and only, of the regular season between the Crimson Tide and Lady Volunteers.
• Tennessee leads the overall series with Alabama, 49-5, however, the Crimson Tide has prevailed in the last three meetings.
• Alabama won back-to-back meetings in Tuscaloosa in 2016 and 2017 and picked up a victory over the Lady Vols at the 2017 SEC Tournament in Greenville in the second round.
• The Tide has never won in Knoxville.
SCOUTING ALABAMA
• Alabama enters Thursday's game with a 15-10 overall record and a 5-7 mark in Southeastern Conference play.
• UA is 5-4 in road games this season, which includes a 3-3 mark in against league opponents.
• The Crimson Tide is led in scoring by senior Hannah Cook, who averages 11.2 points per game and in rebounding by fellow senior Ashley Williams, who averages 6.3 boards per contest. Sophomore Jordan Lewis leads the way in assists with 3.5 per game.
• Sophomore Ashley Knight leads the team and ranks fourth in the SEC and 48th nationally in blocks per game with an average of 2.04. She is currently second in career blocks at Alabama (141) and is 46 away from tying Yolanda Watkins (187) for most in program history.
• Last time out, sophomore Jordan Lewis scored a career-high 23 points to lead UA to its 82-79 victory at Ole Miss. All five starters finished in double figures, while the team combined to shoot 82.4 percent (28-34) from the free throw line.
• As a team, the Crimson Tide is averaging 68.0 points per game, 5.8 more than its opponents, and is outrebounding the opposition 39.6-35.2.
• After finishing the 2016-17 season last in the SEC in free throw percentage, Alabama has jumped up to sixth, hitting 71.8 percent of its attempts as a team.
• In 20 of its 25 games this season, Alabama has had eight or more in the scoring column. In nine of those 20 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. Alabama has also won four of its first seven league games for the first time since that season.
SCOUTING TENNESSEE
• Tennessee stands at 21-4 on the season and 9-3 against Southeastern Conference opponents.
• The Lady Volunteers are 12-1 in home games this season, with the lone loss coming to Mississippi State, 71-52.
• Tennessee is in the midst of a four-game winning streak, which includes victories at home against Texas A&M and Georgia and road wins at Vanderbilt and Arkansas.
• Last time out, the Lady Vols posted a 62-46 decision over Georgia. Four of Tennessee's starters scored double-digit points, and senior Mercedes Russell finished with a double-double of 13 points and 15 rebounds.
• The Lady Vols are led in scoring by senior Jaime Nared, who averages 17.3 points per game, while fellow senior Mercedes Russell leads the way in rebounds at 9.0 per game. Freshman Evina Westbrook is the team's leader in assists with 4.8 per outing.
• Tennessee is under the direction of Holly Warlick, who is in her sixth year as head coach of the Lady Volunteers. She was voted as the Spalding Maggie Dixon Division I Rookie Coach of the Year in 2013 by the Women's Basketball Coaches Association in addition to being named the SEC Women's Basketball Coach of the Year by league coaches and the Associated Press.
