Women’s basketball leads nearly entire game in 20-point win

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CW / Austin Bigoney

Carey Reeder | @realCareyReeder, Staff Reporter

Alabama women’s basketball got back in the win column following back-to-back losses with a 72-52 win over Colgate on Sunday, derailing the Raiders’ best start in school history. The Crimson Tide led for nearly 39 of the game’s 40 minutes.

Junior forward Jasmine Walker captured her first double-double of the season, posting 16 points and 11 rebounds to lead Alabama in both categories. She shot 50% from the field, including 4-for-7 shooting behind the three-point line.

“I’m just taking it one game at a time,” Walker said. “Treating every one of them like it’s my last.”

Junior forward Ariyah Copeland had 15 points, six rebounds and three assists.

Sophomore guard Brittany Davis had 11 points and three 3-pointers and was the sole player off the bench in double figures. Non-starters had averaged 47% of the Alabama scoring coming into the game.

Senior guard Cierra Johnson, who was the team’s leading bench scorer with an average of 11.8 points per game coming into Sunday’s contest, was held scoreless.

It was the first time these two programs matched up and Alabama led from the opening tip to the final buzzer.

“We have a lot of respect for them and they will compete well in the Patriot League this year,” Alabama coach Kristy Curry said. “There’s so much parody in our game and they made it tough on us today but I loved our team’s response.”

A quick 10-2 run to start the game by Alabama gave the Crimson Tide a 17-11 advantage after the first period.

Colgate managed to hold even with the Crimson Tide in the second quarter despite Alabama outscoring its opponents by 58 points in the quarter on the season. Sloppy ball security by Alabama kept it close.

Alabama committed 11 turnovers in the first half that led to 10 Colgate points but managed to hold a 32-26 lead at halftime. However, the Crimson Tide out-rebounded the Raiders 26-10 to combat the miscues.

In the second half, Alabama began to stretch its lead out by shooting 64% from the field. The Crimson Tide defense began to set in, forcing the Raiders to shoot 35% from the field in the game.

“We were playing hard but needed to channel our energy in another direction on defense,” Curry said. “We wanted them to not try too hard overplaying the ball, just stick to our principles.”

Walker captured her double-double with 10 points in the second half and hit her last three-pointer as time expired in the third quarter to give Alabama the commanding 56-40 lead.

Alabama extended its lead in the fourth quarter to close out the 20-point win.

The Crimson Tide (6-3) will continue its lengthy home stand next Sunday, playing host to the North Carolina Tar Heels inside Coleman Coliseum. Tipoff is at 2 p.m.

“We just have to keep playing together as a team,” Walker said. “Keep doing those little details Coach is teaching us, we’ll be fine.”