Alabama women's basketball upsets Ole Miss despite missing top two scorers

Alabama women’s basketball showed its depth on Sunday in a 63-58 win at Ole Miss without its top two scorers.

Brittany Davis and Megan Abrams were out due to injuries suffered last week vs. Auburn. Davis was on the bench with a boot on her right leg; no timetable has been announced for either player's return as they remain day-to-day.

The Rebels (16-3, 5-1 SEC) raced out to an eight-point lead by the end of the first quarter as Alabama struggled to hit shots. The Crimson Tide was able to tie the game in the second quarter and trailed by two at halftime. A 10-0 run coming out of half gave Alabama a five-point lead in the third quarter, a lead that the Crimson Tide would keep for the rest of the game.

"They do all count the same, all equally important but this one kind of puts that exclamation point on how hard this bunch has worked. They deserved to win today," Alabama coach Kristy Curry said. "... I think this just helps our confidence as we go down the stretch here."

The Crimson Tide (14-4, 3-2) was led by Loyal McQueen with 14 points and Sarah Ashlee Barker with 16 points. Jada Rice added 11 points and 11 rebounds.

Depth is shown

Missing three key players, it was clear that the Crimson Tide's depth would be put to the test. The Crimson Tide played all nine available players in the first quarter and six of them scored. Alabama showed no defensive drop-off throughout the lineup.

McQueen and Barker each had their own scoring streaks, individually taking over the game for stretches. No matter when Abrams and Davis return, Alabama's depth should be beneficial as SEC play gets tougher to close the month.

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Slow start gives way to comeback

The Alabama offense made its first field goal, then struggled to go 3-for-15 in the opening quarter. The Crimson Tide had scoring droughts of 4 minutes and 2:49 in that span, clearly missing its leading scorers.

But the Crimson Tide used a 7-0 run from Barker to cut the deficit as the offense found some more rhythm. They only made four field goals but went 6-for-6 from the free-throw line.

The defense also was able to lock in more, holding the Rebels to 4-for-17 shooting from the field, and limiting them to only three attempts from the foul line.

Up next

The Crimson Tide will return home to face Texas A&M (5-11, 0-6) on Thursday (6 p.m. CT, SEC Network+).

This article originally appeared on The Tuscaloosa News: Alabama women's basketball beats Ole Miss without top 2 scorers