Preview | Women’s basketball will face these fearsome foes in the coming weeks

The team’s first SEC matchup will be against Missouri on New Year’s Eve.

CW+file

CW file

The 2020-2021 Alabama women’s basketball schedule was announced Friday on Twitter.

The long-awaited finalization of the season should abate any lingering stress about what’s left of the team’s preseason, which head coach Kristy Curry spoke to earlier this year.

“We’re trying to find a happy medium that just helps us prepare for [Southeastern Conference (SEC)] play right now, with the preseason,” Curry said. “So, we’re anxious to get the conference season so we can finalize the preseason.”

The team will start their campaign for a NCAA tournament bid with a three game homestand on Nov. 25 against Samford. The two following home games will be against Houston and USC Upstate on Nov. 29 and Dec. 2, respectively.

Alabama will play their first road game against Oklahoma State and begin SEC games on New Year’s Eve at Missouri.

Their first home SEC conference game will be on Jan. 4 against South Carolina. From then on, the SEC schedule alternates between two home games and two away games.

Some notable matchups include a Jan. 7 game against LSU in Tuscaloosa and a game opposite Georgia on Feb. 4. The Tigers were able to sneak past the Crimson Tide 71-60 in January, as then-junior forward Jasmine Walker’s double-double performance was matched by LSU forward Ayana Mitchell. Mitchell graduated last year, but she left behind the two other members of LSU’s so-called “Big Three:” Khayla Pointer and Faustine Aifuwa, who will both be well-practiced and formidable opponents as the season progresses.

Alabama lost two close games against Georgia last season, including a heart-wrenching overtime loss 76-75. Georgia was also the last team Alabama played before collegiate sports were shut down in March due to pandemic precautions. Alabama will finish their regular season away at Arkansas before heading to Greenville, South Carolina for the SEC Tournament. The tournament will take place March 3-7. 

As soon as the schedule was released, fans took to Twitter to express their excitement for the upcoming season. One fan stated that they were excited to see what Curry and the team has in store for this upcoming season. 

Another fan stated that the schedule release is just what they have been waiting for. 

Even assistant coach and recruiting coordinator Tiffany Coppage got in on the excitement on Twitter. 

As the 2020-2021 women’s basketball season inches closer, fans can now look over, analyze and speculate about this season’s schedule and share in the excitement for the return of women’s basketball.