Alabama, a fixture in the NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament throughout the 1990s, endured some hard times in the years that followed. Heading into 2024-25, however, the Crimson Tide are very much back and looking for their first Sweet 16 since 1998.
Alabama heads into a new season fresh off a 24-10 finish to 2023-24 that included qualifying for its third NCAA Tournament in four seasons. The Crimson Tide knocked off Florida State in the 1st Round of March Madness and gave Texas a tough Round of 32 game.
Coach Kristy Curry’s team embarks on this season ranked in the preseason Top 25 and stocked with enough talent to make plenty of noise in the always-tough SEC. Before diving into the stacked conference, Alabama takes on a non-conference schedule that includes a Thanksgiving Week visit to Niceville, Florida, for the Emerald Coast Classic.
Sarah Ashlee Barker’s All-American Candidacy
Birmingham native Sarah Ashlee Barker returned to her home state after spending her first two seasons at Georgia. Barker was solid in her 2022-23 debut with Alabama, but took it to another level in 2023-24. Coming off a season in which she poured in 16.8 points per game on better than 49 percent shooting from the floor, Barker has the makings of an All-American in 2024-25.
Is Aaliyah Nye The Nation’s Best 3-Point Shooter?
Knocking down 108 3-pointers on a blistering 41.7 percent, Aaliyah Nye finished 2023-24 as the third-most prolific long-range shooter in the country. Only Dyaisha Fair and Caitlin Clark, the latter in a historic season, were more dangerous from beyond the arc.
Nye is the top returning shooter to Div. I, and one of only two players in the college game this year who made 100 or more triples last year along with TCU’s Madison Conner.
As Nye now shifts gears to 2024-25, she has an opportunity to establish herself as the premier 3-point shooter in the game. Her presence was certainly key to Alabama reaching 24 wins last year, as the Crimson Tide produced 35 percent of their total offense from long range.
Ready for the SEC Gauntlet
With reigning national champion South Carolina, the 2023 national champion LSU and even the team that knocked Alabama from the 2024 NCAA Tournament in Texas joining the fray, Alabama’s March Madness credentials will be tested regularly come January and February.
The Crimson Tide face a particularly challenging stretch over 10 days in the latter weeks of the regular season, facing Texas A&M, Tennessee, Auburn, LSU and Oklahoma in the final five games before the SEC Tournament.
Alabama’s non-conference slate will be crucial for getting the Crimson Tide prepped and ready to take on the SEC. The Thanksgiving week trip to the Emerald Coast Classic begins the Tide’s tune-up in earnest, which includes a possible matchup against a Clemson team looking to have a breakout year in the ACC.
Alabama Basketball Matchups To Watch In 2024-25
- Nov. 25 vs. Alabama State (Emerald Coast Classic)
- Nov. 26 vs. UAB or Clemson (Emerald Coast Classic)
- Dec. 5 at Cal
- Dec. 20 vs. Michigan State or Richmond (West Palm Beach Classic)
- Dec. 21 vs. Michigan State or Richmond (West Palm Beach Classic)
- Jan. 9 at Texas
- Jan. 12 at Ole Miss
- Jan. 16 vs. South Carolina
- Feb. 2 vs. Georgia
- Feb. 9 at Mississippi State
- Feb. 17 vs. Texas A&M
- Feb. 20 at Tennessee
- Feb. 23 vs. Auburn
- Feb. 27 vs. LSU
- March 2 at Oklahoma
- March 5-9, SEC Championship (in Greenville, South Carolina)
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