The Alabama women’s basketball team will try to upset No. 4 South Carolina for its first Southeastern Conference win on Sunday.
Alabama and South Carolina tip off at 5 p.m. at Coleman Coliseum, where the Crimson Tide (10-4, 0-1 SEC) has won its last five games. Alabama dropped its SEC opener to LSU on Thursday. The Gamecocks (13-1, 1-0 SEC) are coming off a 99-72 win over No. 13 Kentucky.
Sunday’s matchup is the 41st meeting before the two programs with South Carolina winning the last 15. The last time the Tide defeated the Gamecocks was 2008, 65-54, in Tuscaloosa.
Seven different Alabama players average seven points or more. Redshirt junior Jordan Lewis is tops on the team (12.9), while junior Jasmine Walker is second with 10.4 points.
Over the last four games, Lewis has averaged 14.5 points while shooting 50 percent (19-of-38) from the floor. In her last five games, sophomore De’Sha Benjamin has put up solid numbers off the bench with 10.6 points and 4.4 rebounds. Over her last six, Benjamin is shooting 62.5 (20-of-32) from the field.
The Alabama bench has outscored its opponents, 472-236 and in all 14 games this season. The Tide reserves leads the SEC in total bench points and bench points per game. The reserves have accounted for 46 percent of the Tide’s scoring, with its third, fourth and fifth scorers in senior Cierra Johnson (9.1), Benjamin (8.1) and sophomore Brittany Davis (7.8) leading the way.
