Alabama women’s basketball entered the fourth quarter trailing by 11 points. It had shot just 36 percent from the floor. Then it caught fire.
The Crimson Tide scored 11 straight points, seven of which were sparked by forward UA Shaquera Wade, in the first four minutes of the quarter.
From that point on, the two teams would go on small runs: Georgia built a six-point lead, but Alabama answered, leading to overtime.
The two teams were tied at 61 with 2:55 left in overtime, but then Wade picked up her fifth foul, forcing her to the bench. With Wade out, the Bulldogs outscored Alabama by nine (15-6) ending the game in a 76-67 win for Georgia.
“I told our kids in the huddle, ‘You can’t let that be a downer. You have to be more inspired and go make plays for her,’” coach Kristy Curry said. “I felt like coming out of the timeout, we were fighting just to get them to have something about them besides (Wade) and Cierra (Johnson).”
In her Senior Night game, Wade had a bookend game. She started off hot in the first quarter, scoring seven points on 3-of-4 shooting. She scored 10 points in the fourth, finishing with 19 points.
She made just one basket in the middle two quarters.
For the second-consecutive game, guard Cierra Johnson dominated. She scored 25 points in the team’s win against Vanderbilt last time out, and she was better against the Bulldogs, finishing with her first double-double of her Alabama career.
While playing in all 45 minutes of the game, the junior brought down 12 rebounds and scored a team-high 23 points. She also finished with five of Alabama’s eight assists.
Ariyah Copeland was the only other player to reach double figures, finishing with 10 points.
The last time the two teams matched up, Alabama’s bench carried the team, scoring 36 of the 58 points. In Sunday’s loss, Alabama’s bench scored only six points.
“We really struggled beyond Shaquera and Cierra,” Curry said. “I thought a lot of it was where we were getting open.”
Guard Taja Cole finished with a double-double for Georgia, finishing with 11 points and 10 assists. Forward Caliya Robinson finished with a game-high 29 points.
Alabama will face Ole Miss in its last home game of the year on Thursday.
