Alabama regroups post Texas loss, finds way around Barker’s absence

Barker is a veteran on the team and one of the key pieces to head coach Kristy Curry’s game play. No. 18 Alabama managed to get past unranked Missouri even without Barker as sophomore Diana Collins took over the starting role, but when it came to defeating No. 5 Texas, the Crimson Tide didn’t look like themselves.

“We were as bad as the weather was today,” Curry told reporters after the game, referring to an unusual cold front in the Texan capital.

Alabama was held to its worst performance of the season at just 40 points, allowing the Longhorns to score 84. Even players that have been standouts for Curry’s team didn’t impress in Austin.

The Next talked to guard Zaay Green ahead of the matchup. Green, despite being a new face on the team, has been in the college game for seven years. Especially with Barker out, Green has to step in a leadership role to help younger players like Collins and 2024 SEC All-Freshman Essence Cody.

“We’re missing a big piece right now,” Green said. “I mean, everybody got to step it up, but I know I have to step it up before we get Sarah Ashlee back.”

Coach Curry acknowledged that a poor performance like this doesn’t happen just because of the absence of one player, but also that it takes more than one person to replace an All-SEC player.

“I think you have to have multiple efforts from a lot of different people that are able to help us offensively with point production,” Curry said. “I thought today, what showed up more than anything is just her communication and her presence, because she does so much with that. She’s our fearless leader. And for whatever reason today, we just weren’t able to muster what we were able to, you know, when she went out with 13 minutes to go against Florida and then the entire Missouri game.”

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But when the Crimson Tide traveled to Oxford to face Mississippi, something went right again.

It wasn’t a dominating win, which wasn’t expected against a solid opponent, but an 84-78 victory could be what Alabama needs to regroup before hosting No. 2 South Carolina in Tuscaloosa.

“We’ve got two losses on the season… we have to try and hit the reset button,” Curry said. “I’ve always said in this league, I’ve learned through the years, you have to have short term memory, whether it’s a positive experience or a negative experience, and that shows you know your toughness and your grit. Something we pride ourselves on being tremendously tough, and then blue collar, hard nosed group of kids that work really hard every day, so we’ll go back to work. So we’ll control the controllable.”

Senior guard Aaliyah Nye, who alongside Barker makes up a duo of veteran returners in the team, recorded a career high 32 points against Mississippi, while Green came back from a five point game to score 27. This was Green’s seventh 20-point game this season. Collins, who took over for Barker once again, recorded a career high of 11 points, shooting 4-of-6 from the floor.

“Diana has actually been doing amazing,” Green said. “She’s been helping me bring them all up the court. You know, she has amazing on ball defense. So, I mean, that’s really all we can ask for her. Just having her presence on the floor means a lot. So she comes ready every game. That’ll help us in so many ways.”

It is still unclear when Barker will be back to Alabama’s starting lineup, but in the meantime, the Crimson Tide will have to find a new gameplay, especially with the national champions who have just defeated Texas 67-50 next in the schedule.

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