5 things to know about Alabama women's basketball entering 2023-24 season
The 2023-24 Alabama women's basketball team is scheduled to tip off their season on Monday Nov. 6 against Alabama State at 4:30 p.m. CT at Coleman Coliseum in Tuscaloosa, Ala.
In 2023, Alabama women's basketball finished fifth in the SEC with a 9-7 SEC record and a 20-11 overall record, with a first round loss in the NCAA Tournament and a second round SEC tournament loss. As head coach Kristy Curry enters her 11th season with the program, the Crimson Tide will look to bounce back in 2023-24 with a ton of new faces.
Here are five things to know about Alabama women's basketball entering the 2023-24 season:
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Top returning players
Senior guard Aaliyah Nye returns for her senior season for the Crimson Tide. Nye finished the 2022-23 season ranked second in the SEC in three-point statistics shooting 45.1% on 164 combined attempts. Nye also finished seventh in the NCAA for three-point percentage.
Seniors Loyal McQueen, Sarah Ashlee Baker and JeAnna Cunningham are also returning for the Crimson Tide, along with sophomore Karly Weathers.
Top newcomers
The Alabama women's basketball team had a busy off-season, picking up two Power 5 transfers, a graduate transfer, and bringing in the No. 12 recruiting class nationally, according to ESPNW.
Meg Newman from Arizona State and Jessica Timmons from NC State are the two Power 5 transfers picked up by the Crimson Tide.
Del'Janae "Burger" Williams is the lone graduate transfer from Indiana State picked up by Alabama.
Freshmen Essence Cody, Naomi Jones and Reychel Douglas highlight Alabama's 2023 recruiting class for the upcoming basketball season. All three players will look to make a big impact on the court for the Tide during the 2023-24 season.
Schedule highlights
Alabama's first game against a ranked opponent is on Friday Nov. 24 at 11 a.m. CT against No. 17 Louisville at the Betty Chancellor Classic in Katy, Texas.
Alabama will also face 2023 WCC regular season champion Gonzaga at 1:30 p.m. CT on Saturday Nov. 25 at the Betty Chancellor Classic in Katy, Texas.
The Tide open SEC play in 2024 starting with No. 12 Ole Miss coming to Tuscaloosa on Thursday Jan. 4 at 6 p.m. CT.
On January 18, Alabama faces defending national champion and No. 1 LSU in Tuscaloosa at 8 p.m. CT Thursday, Jan. 18.
Alabama faces 2022 national champion and No. 6 ranked South Carolina in Columbia at 6 p.m. CT Thursday, Feb 22.
NCAA tournament projection
Alabama is expected to finish seventh in the SEC according to a poll conducted by experts of the Lafayette Daily Advertiser.
Alabama women's basketball is projected to be on the bubble and among one of the NCAA tournament's first four out according to a 2024 NCAA women's bracketology conducted by ESPN on October 31st.
Coach Kristi Curry makes history next season
Alabama coach Kristi Curry will make history during the 2023-24 basketball season by becoming the second-longest tenured coach of Alabama women's basketball as Curry is entering her 11th season.
Rick Moody, who coached Alabama from 1989-2005, still holds the record for most seasons coached in Alabama women's basketball history.
Curry looks to make her third NCAA tournament appearance as the coach of Alabama in 2024.
This article originally appeared on The Tuscaloosa News: 5 things to know about 2023-24 Alabama women's basketball
