Alabama Women’s Basketball Suffers First Loss of the Season

BERKELEY, Calif.- In a tightly contested Southeastern Conference versus Atlantic Coast Conference matchup, Alabama faced their first defeat of the season by the California Golden Bears, bringing their record to 9-1.

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Prior to the matchup, the Crimson Tide secured the No.19 spot in the AP Poll and No.17 in the Coaches Poll. With a strong start to the season and aspirations to build on last year's success, but challenges appeared during their first defeat.

The first quarter proved to be a struggle for the Crimson Tide, ending with them down 14-13. However, they found their rhythm in the second quarter, going on a scoring spree to take a 32-26 lead by halftime.

Alabama began the third quarter with a quick basket to extend their advantage, aiming to set the tone for the remainder of the game. Yet, the teams traded baskets relentlessly, and the Crimson Tide entered the fourth quarter trailing 54-50.

After both teams went scoreless for the first 2:18 of the fourth quarter, Alabama managed to score with a 3-pointer, followed by two to take a brief two-point lead. However, as in the third quarter, the teams continued to exchange baskets, and with 2:19 remaining, Alabama found itself down 64-60. Despite their efforts to regain the lead or tie it up, the Crimson Tide ultimately fell to the Bears, 69-65, in an upset.

"I loved our kids; I thought we battled and battled, we just weren't able to get a couple of critical stops and make a couple plays down the stretch. We missed nine free throws. The little things on the road, we know that we can correct," said coach Kristy Curry in her postgame remarks.

Zaay Green, who led the team with 28 points, also joined the press conference following the loss. Since transferring, Green has taken on a leadership role, and her primary message was to focus on moving forward after the loss. "It was kind of on us as the older ones; we didn't step up on the defensive end. We didn't guard the ball the way we were supposed to, especially coming out of the third quarter. There were a lot of shots that we didn't make that we should have, so a lot of it was on us. We're going to learn and keep moving," said Green.

The Crimson Tide will enjoy a brief respite before their next game against Murray State on Dec. 15 at Coleman Coliseum, scheduled for 2:00 p.m. CT.