Knight scores 20 in Bama's 93-59 victory

The University of Alabama women’s basketball team defeated the Appalachian State Mountaineers Monday, 93-59, in Foster Auditorium.
The Crimson Tide scored at least 90 points for the second consecutive game for the first time since 2001.
Alabama improved to 2-0 this season, while the Mountaineers dropped to 0-2.
Breaking her career-high in scoring while tying her career-best in rebounds, sophomore Meoshonti Knight paced the team to the victory. Knight, a Central Catholic High alum, scored 20 points — four more points than her previous best — along with bringing in eight rebounds. She added three assists, one block and one steal.
Senior Nikki Hegstetter scored a career-high 17 points, shooting 6-for-8 from the field, while sophomore Hannah Cook scored 15 points and junior Breanna Hayden tallied 13 points.
“I thought we were able to come out and sustain a tough first quarter and some foul trouble and play smarter from that point on,” Alabama head coach Kristy Curry said in a news release.
“We were able to get a lot of easy baskets. We really got a lot of shot attempts, and we were able to knock some of those open ones down and started shooting better from the line. Overall, I was really pleased. Our pace was really, really good at times,” Curry said.
The game got off to a sluggish start as both teams compiled double-digit fouls in the first quarter. Alabama converted four field goals in the opening 10 minutes but held Appalachian State without a basket until only 32 seconds remained in the quarter.
The Tide began to pull away in the second quarter, eventually taking a 51-26 advantage into the locker room. Knight led all scorers at that point with 14.
Alabama used a hot-shooting third quarter to put the game away, draining 10 of its 18 shots, including a 4-of-4 performance from Hegstetter.
For the game, Alabama earned 32 points off 27 forced turnovers and held the Mountaineers to 27 percent (17-64) from the floor.
The Tide shot 43 percent (30-70), dished out 13 assists and rejected nine shots.
Next up, Alabama takes on the Mississippi Valley State Devilettes Sunday in Foster Auditorium in a 2 p.m. contest.
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