by TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – The Alabama women’s basketball team closed 2023 by defeating Mississippi Valley State, 91-26, inside Coleman Coliseum on Sunday afternoon. The Crimson Tide earned its 10th consecutive victory in Coleman Coliseum and its 25th straight regular-season non-conference win to improve to 13-2 on the season.
Four of Alabama’s five starters scored in double figures, with Aaliyah Nye and Sarah Ashlee Barker leading the squad with 18 points each. Jessica Timmons (17) and Loyal McQueen (14) aided in the scoring effort, while Essence Cody collected seven rebounds and Karly Weathers picked up five assists.
With the win, Alabama reached the 13-win mark before the New Year for the first time in program history.
For Mississippi Valley State (1-12), Kerrigan Johnson led the team’s scoring efforts with seven points.
Head Coach Kristy Curry Postgame Comments
“It’s always good to come back from the holidays and have a chance to play before conference play and just to be able to get our feet back under us. I think the biggest thing with us is just to have everybody healthy and back out there, so it’s good to see Naomi Jones return to the floor. It was good to be able to get a lot of minutes and kind of get our feedback under us, which is hard to simulate when your practice guys are out of town. We had a good crowd today; we appreciate everybody coming out and hope they’ll be back in here on January 4th when we take on Ole Miss to start conference play.”
Game Stats
- Alabama picked up its fourth-straight victory over the Devilettes, improving to 4-0 on in the all-time series.
- The Crimson Tide made 53 percent (17-32) field goal attempts, including 36 percent (5-14) from three-point range in the first half
- Alabama continued its impressive shooting effort by making each of its first seven attempts in the third quarter
- The Tide held MVSU to fewer than 10 points in all four quarters
- Alabama hauled in a season-high 59 rebounds and limited MVSU to 32 boards
- The Tide surpassed 50 rebounds for the first time since Dec. 18, 2022, when it earned 55 against Norfolk State
