Alabama 74, Georgia 62
KRISTY CURRY: Just loved our team's ability tonight to kind of go out and execute the game plan. Thought our coaches really had us prepared, and we just weathered their runs and stuck together. I think we learned a lot from the first game at Georgia. It was really similar. You could hear our kids talking going down the hallway at halftime, "not again."
I just loved the grit and the toughness that our kids showed, and it was a great game. Happy we're on the winning side.
Q. Can you talk about the momentum you had from start to finish?
BRITTANY DAVIS: Coach talked about coming out and playing for 40 minutes. We started out from the tip and just picked each other up and kept going. Even when it got tough, we kept going.
Q. What was the game plan tonight?
MEGAN ABRAMS: We just wanted to limit our turnovers, push in transition, and make the catches hard. Not give them easy shots.
So we really wanted to lock in defensively. We knew we had some mismatches offensively for us. So we just wanted to execute the game plan and make sure we get stops because we know that we can get buckets offensively.
Q. Brittany, after a low-scoring third quarter for you, what went different in the fourth?
BRITTANY DAVIS: Just staying focused and continue to trust my teammates and know that when I'm not doing something, I know that they pick me up and got my back.
Q. This question for both of you, I'll start with Megan and go to Brittany: How difficult is tournament play playing back-to-back?
MEGAN ABRAMS: It is tough. You have to have mental toughness, but I think we had a little bit of an advantage playing yesterday. So we just have to continue to play together as a team and just keep that mental toughness. So I think really that's the key factor in our success.
Q. Coach Curry, you spoke about the game in January. Like you said, a very similar situation. What type of things were you guys able to do differently to hold on to the lead there?
KRISTY CURRY: That's a great question. We talked at halftime. We knew they were going to come out and really push early and often, and they were getting some looks on a make. We knew that Que would come out and really try and hurt us in transition. We had three back in transition, and an I formation, and I thought we did a really good job of adjusting some things at halftime with our transition defense and limiting them at the rim, making them play off two feet.
Q. What have you seen from your bench throughout this tournament so far?
KRISTY CURRY: Amazing. When you look at our bench, Taylor Sutton stepped up in a big way tonight. That Georgia girl. Jada came off the bench, another Georgia girl. Allie Craig has been coming off the bench, obviously. I thought Myra came in there, and I know those minutes were huge to end the half.
Just a great job in our bench stepping up and coming in and doing all the little things, and it's been a difference maker for us, that's for sure.
Q. Tonight was your 150th win at Alabama. What does that mean for you?
KRISTY CURRY: It's just -- I didn't know that. I hope we can get a lot more, first of all, and, secondly, it's just a credit to everybody around the program. When you look at the staff, the team, the kids, it's all about them with me. I'm just happy to be a small part.
Q. Can you talk about the defensive game plan for tonight?
KRISTY CURRY: We were trying to limit looks in the paint and making sure that we brought the double, whether it was zone or man. We kept changing our defenses after time-outs and dead balls. I'm trying to keep them a little out of rhythm because Que is so good with the ball in her hands, but we had to find shooters. I thought Richardson really came in in this third quarter and hurt us some, but overall just making sure we kept the ball in fronts of us, and we didn't have to help rotation because that's where Staiti and those kids will really hurt you too on the offensive glass.
Q. You have seen Que Morrison throughout her career. What makes playing against her so difficult.
KRISTY CURRY: She's a three-level scorer. She's so good, one-two dribble pick-up, shot at the rim. She's really improved her three. I have said this before on several occasions, and I have told Joni this, when you look at Que Morrison and you look at Jenna Staiti, I have so much respect for them coming back for a fifth year and the legacy they're leaving at Georgia, and we wish them well in the NCAA Tournament.
Both of those kids have really big fans in Kristy Curry because of how they've committed to that program and what they've done for five years.
Q. Last one for you: What did you change inside the paint from January 9th to today to be more successful?
KRISTY CURRY: You know, we were able to get more shots at the rim. They came out and were switching one through five. We were really able to get their bigs on our guards, and I think we just countered. We told the kids before the game, let it fly. Whether that's at the rim or from three. No hesitation from anybody, find the open person and find the open windows and let's make plays, and our kids did that tonight.
Thank you. Roll Tide.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports