Alabama women's basketball pulls away for NCAA Tournament win vs. Rhode Island
· Yahoo Sports
Alabama women's basketball used a eight-point run by Jessica Timmons to pull back away from Rhode Island for a NCAA Tournament win.
The Crimson Tide (24-10) lead was four before Timmons started her run, and UA led by 18 at the end of the third quarter as it cruised to a 68-55 victory over Rhode Island on Saturday, March 21, in Louisville, Kentucky.
Visit turconews.click for more information.
Essence Cody had one of her best games with 19 points, including three 3-pointers. It was Cody's best game since scoring 21 versus Clemson on Dec. 4, 2025. Timmons added 21 points and Diana Collins had 16.
Alabama will move onto the second round to play Louisville on Monday (time to be determined).
Third-quarter run steals momentum for Alabama women's basketball
Just as Rhode Island cut what was a 16-point Alabama lead down to four points, the Crimson Tide made four straight basketballs and ran out a 12-0 run of its own to get the lead back out to 16. The Crimson Tide's leading scorer, Timmons was the big reason why with eight of the 12 points. She had just 10 points before the stretch.
Essence Cody become deep threat
Cody set a new career high on Saturday with Alabama. She made three 3-pointers in the Round of 64 win. Cody started the game hitting two deep shots in the first minutes before hitting one to start the fourth quarter. Alabama went just 4-of-8 from deep, way below its usual average for attempts.
With Cody being able to shoot the three-ball, Alabama was able to shoot above 50% from the floor, with 36 paint points.
First half defensive stand by Crimson Tide
The Rams made just three of their last 23 field goal attempts to end the first half. That includes going just 2-of-12 during the second quarter while going 5-of-6 from the line, which cut the Crimson Tide lead in half.
Alabama has been led by its defense, and for the third time in four games it came out to help the Crimson Tide advance in a tournament.
This article originally appeared on The Tuscaloosa News: Alabama women's basketball pulls away from Rhode Island for NCAA Tournament win