Alabama women fall to Vanderbilt 55-52

The University of Alabama women’s basketball team came up short in its comeback attempt Sunday afternoon, falling to Vanderbilt 55-52 at Foster Auditorium.
Khadijah Carter took a last-second three-pointer that bounced off the front of the rim as the buzzer sounded.
Alabama (12-10 overall, 1-6 in conference play) started the game 0-11 from the field before Karyla Middlebrook hit a jumper at the 9:52 mark.
The Commodores led by as many as 16 in the first half, but a 7-0 run for Alabama cut it to eight with 1:26 to go. Vanderbilt would hold a 32-24 lead at halftime.
“I’m just really disappointed in how we started the game,” Alabama head coach Kristy Curry said in a news release. “The first 10 minutes of the game were extremely embarrassing and disappointing. People outside were saying how it was a good job of fighting hard and trying to put yourself in a position to win, but we have got to understand that we want to win games. We are here to win. We’ve got to understand that we have to put 40 minutes together. Today, we didn’t put 40 minutes together, and you cannot win in this league not putting 40 minutes together. It’s just disappointing today.”
Alabama rallied to even the score at the 10:58 mark of the second half and took its first lead moments later following a pair of made free throws from Meoshonti Knight, a former Central Catholic High School standout.
From that point, the two teams battled as the clock ran down to the final seconds with the Tide determining its own destiny.
Down three with 10 seconds to play, the Alabama offense produced a three-point opportunity for Carter, but her shot grazed the front of the rim as time expired.
Ashley Williams led the Tide with 12 points, while Hannah Cook contributed double figures with 11. Middlebrook put up nine points and provided four assists in a career-high 39 minutes. Nikki Hegstetter led all rebounders with nine boards.
Knight finished the game with seven points as well as one rebound and one steal.
For the game, Alabama shot 31.5 percent (17-54), while Vanderbilt hit 46.9 percent (23-49) of its attempts. The Commodores outrebounded the Tide, 39-32, and outscored Alabama in the paint, 30-18.
Next up, Alabama will travel to Columbia, South Carolina, to face South Carolina Thursday. The Tide and Gamecocks will tip off at 6 p.m. on SEC Network +.