Alabama women breeze to win at Fifth Grade Fastbreak game
The solution for the University of Alabama women's basketball team on Thursday was kind of like that of an elementary-school pop quiz.
After racing to a commanding early lead at Coleman Coliseum, the Crimson Tide had watched Georgia State hang around and cut the margin to single digits by halftime.
Alabama found its answer after intermission, and it was multiple choice: turn up the defense and attack the basket.
The Crimson Tide pushed the ball inside to take advantage of its greater height, substituted to cash in on its deeper bench and clamped down to hold the Panthers without a field goal in the first nine minutes of the third quarter.
Alabama led by 20 points going into the final period and cruised to a 80-57 victory.
The daytime contest was played in front of a crowd of 4,203, made up mostly of screaming grade-schoolers. It was the 10th annual Fifth Grade Fastbreak game, with students from around the city and county brought by bus to attend for free.
Energized by the boisterous youngsters, Alabama (8-1) pushed ahead to a quick 23-6 lead, but Georgia State closed the first period on a 10-0 run to cut the margin to seven points. The Crimson Tide got the lead back up to double digits again at 32-23 on Alana da Silva's layup midway through the second quarter, but by halftime UA was up only 42-34.
"I feel like we were much more focused in the third quarter," Alabama coach Kristy Curry said. "Our energy level picked up. We did a much better job getting our half-court defense set."
Georgia State went 1-for-16 from the field in the third period against Alabama's intensified defense.
UA also worked the ball inside to center Ashley Knight and drove to the basket for better shots. By the end of the third quarter, Alabama was up 60-40.
"It's definitely one of the hardest games to play through because it's so loud and just screaming little voices," said Hannah Cook, who scored a team-high 15 points for UA. "It's fun seeing the kids having fun, especially after the game and getting to interact with them.
Added teammate Quanetria Bolton, who scored 11 points, "It's hard, it's chaotic, but at the end of the day we look forward to this game just to see their smiles and the chance to be role models for them."
Jordan Lewis scored 14 points and grabbed eight rebounds for Alabama. Shaquera Wade added 11 points and eight boards.
Makeba Ponder scored 15 points to lead Georgia State (4-5).
"We hope the students had as much fun being here as we had having them here," Curry said. "It's just a great environment."
Ashley Williams, who scored nine points and grabbed eight rebounds, left with an elbow injury. Curry said Williams is day-to-day going into Sunday's 2 p.m. home game against Georgia Tech.
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