Alabama Women’s Basketball Talks Dominating Win Over Samford

Alabama Women's Basketball held a press conference after their win against Samford last night, 84-45.

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Head Coach Kristy Curry gave her opening statement.

Just really proud, its a 40 minute game. I thought our kids as the game went really started to understand what we wanted to do defensively. We were able to get some easy baskets from our stops. A lot of positives, a 2 to 1 assist turnover ratio. We made more free throws than they [Samford] shot. We dominated the glass, the paint. Five in double figures. Just so many positives tonight and a lot to build on as we head into the weekend.

One of Curry's bright stars had a big night for the Crimson Tide. Guard Ace Austin posted 21 points, 4 of 8 from three, 8 of 14 from the field, and 5 assists against Samford. Austin started the game slow in the 1st quarter but found her footing with 6 points (2nd quarter), 5 points (3rd quarter), and 9 points (4th quarter) to finish the game.

Alabama Head Coach Kristy Curry talked about Ace Austin's career night against Samford.

It was great to see Ace, I wanted her to look for a shot more and be aggressive. She is very unselfish, sometimes to a fault. She is a scoring point guard, she is further ahead than most are with their offensive skills so its good to see her going.

Alabama Guard Ace Austin spoke about her college career so far this season as a Crimson Tide player.

It has been great especially since it is something I have always dreamed off. Honestly I have been blessed with the best coaches and teammates that have made it easy for me.

Alabama was hard to stop on the offensive side of the ball. The ball was moving from side to side, causing issues for Samford to keep up. Multiple Crimson Tide players scored in double figures against Samford. Ta'Mia Scott (10), Cody Essence (10), Karly Weathers (13), and Jessic Timmons (12).

Alabama Guard Karly Weathers talked about her teammates versatility on offense to score in different ways.

When you have a situation where five are in double figures, that means we are moving the ball. When you move the ball well, the defense is having to guard more. I talked about this early in the season, you have five in double figures, who are you going to guard. It just makes it harder to guard us on the floor so then you draw a second defender then you have a kickdown or kickout. The ball moves better, we get better shots. When you see that, its a testament to us finding open people and playing for the person next to us.

Alabama Head Coach Kristy Curry added her thoughts about the scoring production against Samford.

We made the point postgame that it can be anyone. I think we had 37 points off the bench. You look at Naomi, a near double-double, 7 and 6. Essence and her together had 17 and 11 so we will take that at any night at the five spot. Joy came in for good minutes. So many people can get to double figures.

Throughout the game, Alabama used their communication on the floor to their advantage. On defense, the Crimson Tide guarded positions 1-5 with their talking. That helped create double teams, switching, and turnovers. On offense, Alabama used their communication for quick cuts to the basket or finding the open player for a three-point shot.

Alabama Head Coach Kristy Curry shared her thoughts about her team's ability to communicate at a high level.

I thought it was improvement. Diana, Ace, Karly and Jessica communicated really at a high level in special situations, especially through huddles on the floor. That is something we continue to teach and work on. We were tryingt to do a better job too, our staff did a good job of calling things more clearly from the sideline. We have a young team, a lot of folks that haven't played together before so as much as we can help them with that growth and put them in those situations in practice.

The Crimson Tide will head to Nassau, Bahamas for the Pink Flamingo Tournament. Their first matchup of the tournament will be against Harvard on Monday at 5:30 p.m. CT.

Alabama Stat Leaders

Points: Ace Austin - 21 points; Assists: 5

Rebounds: Karly Weathers - 6 rebounds

Alabama Players with Double-Digit Points

Ta'Mia Scott - 10 points

Essence Cody - 10 points

Karly Weathers - 13 points

Jessica Timmons - 12 points

Chase Brumfield is the morning producer and writer for Tide 100.9. He is currently a senior studying communications at Mississippi State University. Follow Chase for more Alabama content on X at @cb3864.