NICEVILLE, Fla. — Kristy Curry’s Alabama women’s basketball team has a lot to be thankful for entering the holiday break.
The Crimson Tide is 8-0, after all, with an impressive 85-53 average margin of victory. No foe has played Alabama to single digits, Tuesday’s 73-39 defensive clinic against Clemson the latest as the Crimson Tide returned home from Northwest Florida State College with a Emerald Coast Classic title.
As the national polls have it ranked 20th (coaches poll) and 23rd (AP), here are three takeaways from Alabama’s trip to Niceville.
ECC championship win: Alabama women’s basketball shines in rout of Clemson
Zaay Green is a difference-maker for Alabama women’s basketball
In a team full of new faces, no addition has been bigger than the 6-foot-2 former McDonald’s All-American.
Green transferred in this offseason from Arkansas-Pine Bluff, where she averaged 16.7 points, 7.6 rebounds and 5.6 assists per game. Before that, she was at Texas A&M and Tennessee, which landed the blue-chipper after Green won state titles in 2016 and 2017 at Duncanville High School in Texas.
In Curry’s system, Green has proven a natural fit. Her 28 points, 10 assists, six rebounds and four steals over two games in the Emerald Coast Classic earned her Most Outstanding Player for the tournament as she shot 12-of-18 from the floor, pushing her season averages to 13.5 points, 4.6 rebounds, 3.6 assists and 1.9 steals, all while shooting a team-best 58% from the floor.
“I’m grateful,” Green said following the win. “I didn’t know I would be named for it, so it took me off guard.”
Crimson Tide is dripping with chemistry
As Sarah Ashlee Barker strolled to the free throw line for her second traditional 3-point play in the championship game, Aaliyah Nye stood up from the bench waiting for Barker to look her way.
The two locked eyes and motioned together, their right hands motioning down three times.
“It’s basically saying and-one,” said Nye, who was part of the ECC all-tournament team and set Alabama’s single-season 3-point record last year with 108. “If you make it, it’s one-two, and obviously we’re supposed to make the free-throw so three. Yes.”
The celebration embodied that, whether it be on the bench or floor, the Crimson Tide is playing with excitement, confidence and, most importantly, playing together. That’s represented by the team’s 32-point margin of victory. That’s represented by the latest 19:9 assist-to-turnover ratio in Tuesday’s win. That’s represented by the team’s 23rd-ranked scoring offense in the country as Barker (17.1 ppg) Nye (14.9) Green (13.5) and Essence Cody (11) average double-figure points – and Carly Weathers, Diana Collins and Eris Lester close behind in the 6.4-7.1 point range.
“I have a lot of confidence in our leadership group in Carly, Essence, Aaliyah, JeAnna,” Curry said. “We have a lot of players returning that understand what our culture is about, and then I think we brought some great culture pieces into our program. You know, I love our new faces, our three transfer pieces … and then our three true freshman.
“When you recruit, I think it’s more important than just about talent: It’s about people and about character, it’s about work ethic, it’s about selflessness. So it’s a combination of eight returnees and six new faces that are playing for the front of their chests, and that’s unique in this day and time. I’m really proud of them.”
Trip to Gulf Coast ‘second to none’
Last year the Alabama men’s basketball team finished third in the ECC and went on to make the Final Four. Perhaps the women winning it all foreshadows a successful March Madness run?
“We certainly would like to follow that suit,” said Curry, who’s familiar with the area.
“We played here back a few years ago in an event for coach Patrick (Harrington), who lost his life in a car accident, who was a really special friend of mine, so we’ve played here before and I’ve been here multiple times for recruiting,” she continued. “I just think the facility and four locker rooms, it’s just an amazing setup. It was a real quality experience for our program, but again we embraced it.
“Regardless of where you play, there are two goals, two baskets. You got to make the most of it. We’ve been in a lot of back-to-back days, a lot of environments. I think scheduling … helped us get ready for this experience.”
This article originally appeared on Northwest Florida Daily News: Alabama women’s basketball 8-0 and surging after Emerald Coast Classic
