Kristy Curry continues to elevate Alabama Women’s Basketball
The Crimson Tide is currently projected for its highest NCAA Tournament seed in 26 years.
It is shaking up to be a historic season for Alabama Women’s Basketball. It took time as the rebuild Kristy Curry had in front of her in Tuscaloosa was a big one, but the program has some serious momentum.
Curry has led Alabama to the NCAA Tournament in three of the last four seasons and they’re a virtual lock to make it again this year. Prior to the tournament berth in 2021, the Crimson Tide had not made the big dance since 1999.
The program had wandered the wilderness since the Rick Moody days. Curry has brought success that the program has only ever experienced during the Moody era. At 21-5, Alabama is currently projected as a No. 5 seed in ESPN’s latest Bracketology.
That would be the highest seed the Crimson Tide has received in 26 years when they were a 5-seed in the 1999 NCAA Tournament. That was five years after the women’s team reached its apex when they made a run to the 1994 Final Four. It took the men’s team an additional 30 years to break through that glass ceiling.
Could this be the year Alabama makes it past the first weekend of the NCAA Tournament? In Curry’s three previous trips to the tournament with the Tide, they’ve been knocked out by the second round. The program hasn’t reached a Sweet 16 since 1998.
Alabama is currently riding a dominant four game winning streak in the SEC. They’ve beaten Georgia, Florida, Mississippi State, and Texas A&M, all by at least 15 points. On Thursday, Curry takes her Tide to Knoxville for a huge game against Tennessee. One that will serve as a measuring stick for Alabama and if they are truly in the upper-echelon of women’s college basketball.
The team has shooters that would make Nate Oats jealous. Aaliyah Nye and Karly Weathers both shoot above 40% from three. Sarah Ashlee Barker and Zaay Green both should 39%. Barker is the team’s leading scorer and a leading candidate for an All-SEC selection.
The top tier in the country is in its own weight class. It’s unlikely that Alabama can be competitive with the likes of South Carolina, Notre Dame, UCLA, USC, and Texas. But making a little run in the tournament and getting into the second weekend would be more proof of concept for Curry and what she has (re)built in Tuscaloosa.
