The trip to Greenville, South Carolina for Alabama women’s basketball will be short-lived.
The No. 6 seed Crimson Tide fell 63-61 to No. 11 seed Florida on Thursday in the second round of the SEC Tournament.
Now, Alabama (23-8) waits 10 days to find out its NCAA tournament fate when it’s announced on Selection Sunday: Sunday, March 16 (7 p.m. CT, ESPN).
Florida guard Liv McGill led all scorers with a career-high 29 points. Alabama guard Sarah Ashlee Barker led the Crimson Tide with 24 points, and Karly Weathers logged a double-double with 10 rebounds and 10 assists.
Alabama shot 21 of 62 (34%) from the field and 8 for 28 (29%) from deep.
Against Florida, the Crimson Tide started slow, missing the first three shots and the first five 3-pointers it attempted. Meanwhile, Florida turned a higher shot volume into an early lead that grew to 13-8 late into the first quarter.
Then the Crimson Tide began to finally make shots beyond the arc. Weathers hit Alabama’s first triple with 1:03 left in the first quarter. The next possession, Aaliyah Nye made another to put the Crimson Tide on a 6-0 run to end the quarter and give it its first lead of the game, up 14-13 heading into the quarter break. That turned out to be the only lead of the game for Alabama.
Turnovers prevented Alabama from pulling away in the first half. Florida’s defense pressured the Crimson Tide, and it often prevented Alabama from getting good looks. Overall, Alabama struggled to get into any kind of rhythm offensively. The Crimson Tide tallied 10 turnovers in the first half alone and 19 total.
As a result, Florida jumped out to a lead in the second quarter that grew to as much as 11 points.
Then toward the end of the second quarter, Alabama’s offense woke up again. The Crimson Tide made three of the last four buckets for either team before halftime. Sarah Ashlee Barker hit a jumper and a 3-pointer to start that rally. The Crimson Tide ended the first half on a 9-2 run but still trailed 30-26 at halftime.
Nye and Barker ensured another slow start didn’t happen offensively in the third quarter. The Crimson Tide ramped up its offense in the third quarter, hitting 5 of 10 shots (50%) by the first timeout. That included 2 of 3 (67%) from beyond the arc, including a triple from Nye at 4:39 to bring Alabama within 41-40.
But the Crimson Tide couldn’t sustain it. Alabama missed its next six shots and went 2:55 without a field goal.
Even when the Crimson Tide couldn’t make shots, it still kept Florida from gaining too much of a lead. Heading into the fourth quarter, the Gators still only held a 47-43 advantage. Alabama remained within striking distance.
Florida just kept chipping away, however. There were no big runs. No takeover. But the Gators kept making enough plays to keep the Crimson Tide at arms length.
Specifically, McGill.
Alabama struggled to stop her from scoring at the rim or in the paint. McGill reached double figures in the fourth quarter alone. Combine that with a handful of Crimson Tide turnovers, and Alabama was struggling to close the gap late.
Yet the Crimson Tide almost did. Alabama still had a chance down to the final seconds. Florida missed several free throws, and the Crimson Tide had one more chance to get a shot up with two seconds left.
