Tuesday, January 21, 2014 |
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THE TUSCALOOSA NEWS
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looking to vault ahead
Sophomore Lauren Beers scored a meet-high 9.95 in Saturday’s three-team meet in Knoxville, Tenn., against Kentucky and Nebraska. Alabama is ranked No. 4 nationally on the vault.
Tide gymnastics No. 4 on vault, but stumbles in national rankings By Charlie Potter
Special to The Tuscaloosa News
The Alabama gymnastics team dropped from No. 3 overall to No. 7 in the national rankings after taking second place in the Ozone Collegiate Classic in Knoxville, Tenn., last weekend. The Crimson Tide posted a score of 196.05, two-tenths of a point behind Nebraska’s firstplace score. Kentucky finished third with a 194.65. Alabama is ranked No. 4 nationally on the vault. Sophomore Lauren Beers scored a meet-high 9.95 in Saturday’s three-team meet. The Crimson Tide gymnasts scored a 49.425 on vault in their last rotation in Knoxville. Alabama is ranked No. 5 on uneven parallel bars, No. 8 on balance beam and No. 11 on floor exercise. Junior Kaitlyn Clark took first in the uneven bars with a score of 9.875. Freshman Katie Bailey led the way for Alabama with 39.15 in the all-around.
Milliner sits out as precaution Senior gymnast Diandra Milliner did not compete in last Saturday’s Ozone Collegiate Classic for precautionary reasons, Alabama coach Sarah Patterson said. Milliner’s quadriceps muscle in her frontal thigh tightened up when she “punched in takeoff” during warm-ups on the floor exercise, Patterson said. Milliner’s Achilles tendon was also sore. The setback, however, is not severe, and Milliner will compete in Friday’s meet against Arkansas. “Today we’ll ease her back in on balance beam,” Patterson said Monday. “We’ll ease her back in by Wednesday on vault. We probably will not do floor this week just because of the takeoff, and go another week with that. I think that’s the management of the season that we as coaches have to do.”
Depth a problem for men’s basketball? The University of Alabama men’s basketball team didn’t just lose at Missouri last Saturday — it lost in a way that it hasn’t lost in nearly three years, suffering a 20-plus point blowout that had the Crimson Tide well out of reach for the final 10 minutes, the most one-sided defeat for Alabama since a 78-51 trouncing at Florida in 2011. Even though Alabama has lost nine times this season, many of those losses came down to the final four minutes or later. Was Saturday’s loss a depth issue? Alabama coach Anthony Grant doesn’t think so. The Crimson Tide has nine active scholarship players, more than Vanderbilt (down to seven) and Missouri (which has eight, and often plays only seven). “I don’t think that had anything to do with
monte Continued F rom Page 1C that Tuscaloosa visit as an audition for a coaching position on Alabama’s staff. At the time, Doug Nussmeier was still Alabama’s offensive coordinator. When Nussmeier left for the offensive coordinator job at Michigan, Kiffin was interested but was uncertain about his chances to land the job. “He didn’t know for sure whether he had the job or not,” Monte said. “He had
spent some time with Coach (Nick) Saban, but he had no idea for sure.” Not surprisingly, Monte expects Lane’s new stop to be a success. He said he believes L ane’s experience calling plays as a head coach has prepared him for this position. “He’ll do good,” Monte said.
Kicking it Former A labama punter Cody Mandell spent the first day of Senior Bowl practice with his good friend and kicking mate Cody Parkey of Au-
burn. Mandell ser ved as the holder for Parkey’s field-goal attempts. “Me and Parkey have known each other since junior year of high school,” Mandell said. “I’ve always been good friends with him, so it’s nothing new. I like the guy. He’s been one of my better friends throughout college. Everybody in Tuscaloosa will probably get mad at me for saying that.” Mandell had to adjust to Kball, the ball used for kicking in the NFL, which is different from the ball Mandell kicked
it,” Grant said Saturday in Columbia. “We had a hard time putting the ball in the basket in the second half and that affected us on the defensive end.” A labama was further limited through Grant’s decision to keep center Carl Engstrom on the bench for most of the game. Grant did not specify beyond saying Engstrom was not injured, but after starting the game, Engstrom committed two fouls in three minutes, came out and did not return, presumably for defensive matchup reasons. That problem was compounded by an ineffective performance by his substitute, Nick Jacobs, who also played only three minutes. The result was freshman Jimmie Taylor, still developing as an offensive player, was on the floor for 30 minutes, easily his most action in a game this season. Arkansas coach Mike Anderson said on Monday’s SEC teleconference that he was currently using 11 players “because it keeps your legs fresh,” but that is not an option for most league teams, including Alabama. — Cecil Hurt
Williams on a hot scoring streak While Sunday’s loss to No. 8 South Carolina dropped the University of Alabama women’s basketball team to just 1-4 to begin the New Year, there was at least one positive performance in the outcome. With a team-high 16 points against the Gamecocks, freshman forward Ashley Williams reached double figures in scoring for the 12th time this season, including eight out of the last nine games. Williams, a native of Covington, Ga., ranks third in the Southeastern Conference among freshmen in scoring with an average of 11.4 points per game, trailing only Arkansas’ Jessica Jackson (16.4) and South Carolina’s Alaina Coates (12.0). In a news conference last Tuesday, Alabama coach Kristy Curry said she has been impressed with how well Williams has adjusted to the college game only a year removed from high school. “I think she’s got a chance to be special. I mean, she really has understood that what got you here, it’s a different level and everyone you match up against is as good or better,” Curry said. “So what’s going to separate you is to continue to grow your work ethic every day. She’s really understood the pace of every day from class to the weights to the court to individual workouts to practice, the training room, the treatment, the fluid, just everything you’re not having at the high school level, so the pace with all of that, I think she’s really grown with that.” — Kevin Connell
Date Opponent Location Time/ Result Nov. 4 West Georgia# Dallas W 65-64 OT Nov. 8 Oklahoma Dallas L 82-73 Nov. 14 Texas Tech Tuscaloosa W 76-64 Nov. 18 Nov. 19 Nov. 27 Nov. 29
at Alabama. “It’s really different, as far as watching the rotation,” Mandell said. “ There’s no white lines on it, so it’s a little bit different than what I’m used to. My snapper’s lefthanded, so that’s also pretty different. Just a bunch of different things to get used to this week. I can show my versatility. I have to overcome it and show I can overcome it. “It was fun. First day it’s just getting the jitters out. It’s football. You’ve got to do what you’ve always done and not try to do any more.”
W 102-65 W 75-58 L 74-64 L 85-83 (3OT)
Dec. 4 North Florida Tuscaloosa W 76-48 Dec. 7 at USF Tampa, Fla. L 66-64 Dec. 14 Charleston So. Tuscaloosa W 59-45 Dec. 17 Wichita State Tuscaloosa L 72-67 Dec. 21 Xavier Tuscaloosa L 77-74 Dec. 28 at UCLA Los Angeles L 75-67 Jan. 4 Robert Morris Tuscaloosa W 64-56 Jan. 7 Vanderbilt* Tuscaloosa W 68-63 Jan. 11 at Georgia* Athens, Ga. L 66-58 Jan. 15 Miss. State* Tuscaloosa W 80-61 Jan. 18 at Missouri* Columbia, Mo. L 68-47 Jan. 23 Florida* Tuscaloosa 6 p.m. Jan. 25 LSU* Tuscaloosa 7 p.m. Jan. 29 at Auburn* Auburn 7 p.m. Feb. 1 Tennessee* Tuscaloosa 7 p.m. Feb. 5 at Arkansas* Fayetteville, Ark. 7 p.m. Feb. 8 at Florida* Gainesville, Fla. 11 a.m. Feb. 11 Ole Miss* Tuscaloosa 8 p.m. Feb. 15 at So. Carolina* Columbia, S.C. 3 p.m. Feb. 20 at Texas A&M* College Station 6 p.m. Feb. 22 Missouri* Tuscaloosa 7 p.m. Feb. 26 at Ole Miss* Oxford, Miss. 7 p.m. March 1 Auburn* Tuscaloosa 2 p.m. March 4 at Kentucky* Lexington, Ky. 8 p.m. March 8 Arkansas* Tuscaloosa 3 p.m. Southeastern Conference Tournament March 12-16 Atlanta TBA #Denotes exhibition game *Denotes SEC games
WOmen’s basketball Date Opponent Location Time/ Result Nov. 4 West Alabama# Tuscaloosa W 73-31 Nov. 8 at Tenn.-Chat. Chattanooga L 82-70 Nov. 11 at Nebraska Lincoln, Neb. L 62-48 Nov. 17 at Duke Durham, N.C. L 92-57 Nov. 21 Wisconsin Tuscaloosa W 70-62 Nov. 25 Alabama A&M Tuscaloosa W 60-32 Hilton Concord Thanksgiving Classic Nov. 29 Saint Mary’s Moraga, Calif. L 86-76 Nov. 30 Cal State Fullerton Moraga, Calif. W 69-54 Dec. 4 Dec. 8 Dec. 17 Dec. 20
Tenn.-Martin Houston Jacksonville Troy
Tuscaloosa Tuscaloosa Tuscaloosa Tuscaloosa
L 75-57 W 51-44 W 75-62 W 113-105
Cavalier Classic (Charlottesville, Va.) Dec. 28 Princeton L 79-59 Dec. 29 Coppin State W 82-60 Jan. 2 Kentucky* Tuscaloosa L 85-63 Jan. 5 at Texas A&M* College Station L 73-58 Jan. 12 Ole Miss* Tuscaloosa W 93-79 Jan. 16 Auburn* Tuscaloosa L 61-39 Jan. 19 at So. Carolina* Columbia, S.C. L 77-51 Jan. 23 at Kentucky* Lexington, Ky. 6 p.m. Jan. 26 Georgia* Tuscaloosa 2 p.m. Jan. 30 at Florida* Gainesville, Fla. 6 p.m. Feb. 2 Tennessee* Tuscaloosa 3:30 p.m. Feb. 9 at Missouri* Columbia, Mo. 2 p.m. Feb. 13 at Arkansas* Fayetteville, Ark. 7 p.m. Feb. 16 Texas A&M* Tuscaloosa Noon Feb. 20 Miss. State* Tuscaloosa 7 p.m. Feb. 23 at Vanderbilt* Nashville, Tenn. 3 p.m. Feb. 27 at Auburn* Auburn 6 p.m. March 2 LSU* Tuscaloosa 1 p.m. Southeastern Conference Tournament March 5-9 Duluth, Ga. TBA #Denotes exhibition game *Denotes SEC games
gymnastics
Record meet Two Alabama track and field athletes had performances last weekend that lead the Southeastern Conference in their respective events. Sophomore Elias Hakansson broke his own school record in the men’s weight throw at 67 feet, 9 3⁄4 inches, exceeding his previous school record by three inches. Freshman Jeremiah Green broke the facility and meet records at the Auburn Invitational at Crossplex in Birmingham with a winning leap of 52 feet, 6 1⁄2 inches in the triple jump, the fifth-longest in Alabama history. Green was making his collegiate debut. At least 14 UA athletes achieved personal bests at the meet. Alabama competes Friday and Saturday at the Rod McCravey Invitational at the University of Kentucky in Lexington.
NIT Season Tip-Off Stillman Tuscaloosa Georgia State Tuscaloosa Duke New York Drexel New York
Date Opponent Location Time Jan. 10 Missouri Tuscaloosa Won Jan. 18 Kentucky/ Nebraska Knoxville, Tenn. 2nd Jan. 24 Arkansas Tuscaloosa 7:30 p.m. Jan. 31 at LSU Baton Rouge, La. 7 p.m. Feb. 7 Georgia Tuscaloosa 7:30 p.m. Feb. 14 at Auburn Auburn 7 p.m. Feb. 21 Oklahoma, Michigan, West Virginia Oklahoma City TBA Feb. 28 Florida Tuscaloosa 7:30 p.m. March 7 Stanford Tuscaloosa 7:30 p.m. March 14 Auburn Tuscaloosa 7:30 p.m. SEC Championships March 22 TBA Birmingham TBA NCAA Regional Championships April 5 TBA TBA TBA NCAA Championships - Semifinals April 18 TBA Birmingham TBA NCAA Championships - Super Six Team Finals April 19 TBA Birmingham TBA NCAA Championships - Event Finals April 20 TBA Birmingham TBA
Injured
practice to determine his availability the rest of the week. Defensive end Ed Stinson Stinson will return to Tussustained a groin injury and caloosa to rehab the injury on told the Tuscaloosa News he Wednesday. will not participate in Saturday’s Senior Bowl. Tale of the tape Stinson said he played Players hopped on scales through most of his senior Monday morning and stood season with the injury and just up tall for measurements, as aggravated it during Mon- NFL coaches and scouts took day’s practice. careful notice. Stinson meaAfter a drill during the be- sured in at 6-foot-31⁄8 and 292 ginning of practice he walked pounds, wide receiver Kevin over to the trainer and was Nor wood was at 6 -2, 197 held out for the remainder of pounds, Adrian Hubbard the day. He said he planned to 6 -5 7⁄8 , 255 pounds and Cody meet with the trainer after Mandell 6-21⁄4 , 216 pounds.