BOL Round Table

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – The Alabama women’s basketball team dropped a 57-38 decision on Thursday night in the opening round of play in the 2012 Southeastern Conference Tournament. With the loss, the Crimson Tide finishes the season with a 12-19 record, while the win moves the Gamecocks to 22-8 overall.

“We got the open looks, but were just not able to score points,” said Alabama head coach Wendell Hudson. “We played hard for the most part but just did not know where our points would come from. South Carolina is a really good basketball team, but this game we really hurt ourselves in not being able to score.”

Both teams struggled from the floor as South Carolina hit 32.1 percent (18-for-55), while Alabama managed 25.0 percent (14-for-53) of its attempts. The Gamecocks capitalized on their 24 trips to the free throw line, making 18 of those attempts. In addition, South Carolina out-rebounded the Tide 42-40 and forced 22 Alabama turnovers.

The Tide would strike first, hitting the game’s first basket with less than one minute off the clock. From there, however, Alabama went scoreless from the floor for nearly five minutes, allowing South Carolina to build a 9-2 lead. The Tide evened the score at 10 at the 10:38 mark, but the Gamecocks would respond, outscoring Alabama 22-4 to finish out the half.

In the second half, the Gamecocks continued to outdistance themselves from the Tide, building as much as a 23 point lead.

Sophomore Jasmine Robinson would finish as Alabama’s offensive leader with 11 points. She was followed by junior Kyra Crosby, who had 10 points and eight rebounds.