Alabama Women’s Basketball Picks up First SEC win with an 83-75 Victory at Mississippi

The Alabama women’s basketball team earned its first Southeastern Conference win of the season with an 83-75 victory at Mississippi on Sunday. With the win, the Crimson Tide improves to 11-6 overall and 1-3 in the league while the loss drops the Rebels to 7-10 on the season and 0-4 versus conference opponents.

“The team played really hard today,” said Alabama head coach Wendell Hudson. “Both teams were out there trying to get their first SEC win. We played the type of basketball we needed to play to be successful, sharing the ball and getting good looks at the hoop. We were able to play a lot of people in the game as well, which was good for us.”

Redshirt sophomore Kaneisha Horn led six Alabama players in double figures with 17 points. She was followed by senior Meghan Perkins with 15, junior Shafontaye Myers with 14, senior Alicia Mitcham with 12, sophomore Daisha Simmons with 11 and junior Jasmine Robinson with 10. Perkins, Mitcham, Horn and Robinson combined for 25 of the Tide’s 42 rebounds while Perkins, Horn and Simmons accounted for 19 of Alabama’s 22 assists.

Myers knocked down eight straight points, including a pair of threes, to give Alabama an 8-2 lead with less than two minutes played. Mississippi pulled within three at the 14:42 mark, but the Tide would respond with a 17-5 run over the next nine minutes to lead 31-16. During that stretch, the Rebels would fail to hit a basket as all five of their points came from the free throw line. Alabama would continue to lead by double digits at the half as the Tide headed into the break with the 43-30 advantage.

Alabama and Mississippi traded baskets over the first few minutes of the second half before the Rebels scored six unanswered points to cut the Tide lead to nine, 52-43, at the 16:25 mark. Alabama went back up by 14, but the Rebels would again challenge, using a 15-7 run to pull within six points with 7:03 remaining. The Tide scored 11 of the next 15 points, seven coming from Horn, to go up by 13; however Mississippi chopped the lead to six yet another time off a three-pointer with 2:05 to go. From there, Alabama scored four straight to hold onto the lead and seal the win.

For the game, the Tide shot 44.8 percent (30-67) while the Rebels were 38.5 percent (25-65) from the floor. Alabama had 22 assists in the game and had one of its best outings from the free throw line, shooting 81.8 percent (18-22).

The Tide will have its first of two byes on Thursday before heading to Knoxville to take on ninth-ranked Tennessee on Sunday, Jan. 20. Tipoff is set for Noon CT in Thompson-Boling Arena. The game can be heard locally on 790 AM WTSK.