Women’s basketball aims to continue recent success against Lady Vols

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CW / Hannah Saad

Halle Bonner | @HalleBonnerCW, Staff Reporter

After a 42-game losing streak that spanned 32 years, Alabama women’s basketball has made history over its last five meetings against Tennessee.

In 2016 it was the Crimson Tide’s first win over the Lady Vols since 1984. A year later it beat them again, knocking off the Lady Vols back-to-back for the first time ever. Two years ago Alabama won in Knoxville for the first time, and its 86-65 victory in Tuscaloosa last year, its largest ever over Tennessee, made it the only SEC team to ever beat the Lady Vols five times in a row.

The Crimson Tide will attempt to make it six in a row in Knoxville against No. 24-ranked Tennessee on Monday, Jan. 20.

Alabama coach Kristy Curry, though, said she is treating this game just like the other ones on their schedule.

“Every game is important,” Curry said. “I don’t think it is any less or any more.”

Instead of focusing on the hype and buildup of this game, the team used its bye week to focus on who it wants to be, both as a team and as individual players. The players also took this time to figure out what they need to do to improve their games before stepping into Thompson-Boling Arena on Monday.

Coming into this game, Tennessee should keep its eyes on redshirt junior guard Jordan Lewis and junior forward Jasmine Walker. They lead Alabama in total rebounds and points, with 11.5 and 13.4, respectively.

Lewis has scored in double figures in seven straight games and is 11 points from becoming the 29th member of the team’s 1,000-point club.

As for Walker, she has played her best basketball since the turn of the new year, averaging 16.8 points and eight rebounds in the team’s four SEC games. She has also earned a double-double in both SEC road games.

Tennessee has a lot on the line going up against Alabama. If the Lady Vols can end Alabama’s winning streak, this will be their 400th SEC regular season triumph, including wins this year over Missouri (77-66), Ole Miss (84-28) and Georgia (73-56). The Lady Vols are tied for third in the league with Kentucky.

“They are much improved from a year ago,” Curry said. “They have added some new faces. Their younger kids have become older, same as our younger kids with the experience of going through the SEC as freshmen. So, they are much improved; they are much deeper. They are extremely talented and we have our hands full.”