University of Alabama Women's Basketball
The University of Alabama (UA) women’s basketball team played its inaugural season in 1974. In 1984, it participated in the school’s first National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I women’s basketball tournament. The team has made the NCAA Tournament 14 times, reaching the Final Four in 1994. Since its inception, the program has enjoyed successful eras featuring prominent coaches such as Ken Weeks, Rick Moody, and Kristy Curry, as well as decorated players such as Linda Burgess, Dominique Canty, Shalonda Enis, Niesa Johnson, and others. In addition to the numerous collegiate awards won by its players, the UA women’s basketball team has sent more than a dozen players into the professional ranks. Known as the Crimson Tide, the team plays its home games at Coleman Coliseum in Tuscaloosa, Tuscaloosa County.
The first coach, Stephanie Schleuder, served concurrently as the university’s volleyball coach and women’s basketball coach. She coached the team for three years and had two winning seasons. During the team’s first year, it won the Association for Intercollegiate Athletic Women (AIAW) basketball tournament. (The AIAW tournament ended in 1982.) Ed Nixon replaced Schleuder as head coach in 1977. His teams won two AIAW championships in 1977 and 1978 before he left in 1979. Ann Cronic coached Alabama for one year, during the 1980-81 season, and had a 21-12 record, but was soon replaced by Ken Weeks.
Weeks served as the program’s first successful head coach as a member of the Southeastern Conference (SEC), inaugurated in 1980. The team capped off the 1980-81 season by advancing to the second-ever women’s SEC Tournament final but lost to cross-state rival Auburn 61-50. The team finished the 1981-82 season 17-11, led by guard Terri Hillard, who averaged 20.3 points and 8.3 rebounds per game. During the 1983-84 season, Weeks’s team posted a 22-8 regular season record and finished 12th in the Associated Press (AP) Poll. Following a 74-64 loss to Georgia in its second SEC final, Alabama entered the 1984 NCAA Tournament as a number two regional seed. Alabama defeated Central Michigan 78-70 in the first round but lost to SEC powerhouse Tennessee, led by coaching great Pat Summitt, in the second round, 65-58. (Tennessee would go on to lose in its first ever NCAA final that year.) Weeks coached one more season in 1984-85. Although the team finished with an 18-10 record and was ranked as high as 15th in the AP Poll, it did not earn a bid to the NCAA Tournament.
In 1985, Lois Myers took over as head coach, and her teams had winning records in three of her four seasons. Her first season featured a 20-9 record. Her third season at the helm, 1987-88, resulted in the program’s second NCAA Tournament appearance. Entering as the 9th regional seed, Alabama lost to fellow SEC opponent, the University of South Carolina, 77-63. Lois Myers had a record of 71-44, but after the 1988-89 season, she was replaced by Rick Moody.
Under Moody, a first-time head coach, the team had its most successful run so far, with a streak of 13 straight winning seasons. In 1991, Alabama’s program began an eight-year period in which it was ranked in the AP Top 25 poll and earned bids to the NCAA Tournament. In the 1991-92 and 1992-93 seasons, Alabama was a regional 3rd and 5th seed, respectively, but was eliminated in the second round of the NCAA Tournament. In the 1993-94 season, Alabama had one of its best records in program history at 22-6 in the regular season. The team advanced to the NCAA Tournament Final Four by defeating Oregon State, Iowa, Texas Tech, and Penn State, before losing a close game (69-66) to Louisiana Tech. In the following season, Alabama continued to play well under Moody and won 20 regular season games en route to a number five ranking in the AP Poll, earning a number four seed in the 1995 NCAA Tournament. In the second round, they defeated Duke 121-120 in four overtimes while setting a number of records in an NCAA women’s tournament game. In the regional semifinal, known as the “Sweet Sixteen,” Alabama lost to top seed, perennial contender, and eventual champion, University of Connecticut, 87-56.
Around this time, the Crimson Tide also fielded two of its most notable players, forward Linda Burgess and guard Niesa Johnson. They later joined the newly formed Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA) in 1997 and 1998, respectively. Burgess, who played for Alabama from 1990-92, was selected All-SEC twice during her brief period on the team. After graduating, she played professional basketball in Switzerland and Israel before joining the WNBA’s Los Angeles Sparks in 1997. She was the first Tide player in the WNBA. Niesa Johnson, who started for UA from 1991-95, was SEC All-Freshman and SEC Freshman of the Year in 1992. In 1994, and again in 1995, Johnson was named an All-American, the first player in the program’s history to earn that title. Johnson would go on to play professionally for the WNBA’s Charlotte Sting from 1999-2000.
The team continued to achieve success in the 1995-96 season, when they finished with a 22-7 regular season record and earned a place in the 1996 SEC final. (They lost the final to Tennessee 64-60.) In the regional semifinals of the 1996 NCAA Tournament, Alabama fell in overtime to Stanford 78-76. In the 1996-97 season, Alabama won 25 games and was ranked as high as number two in the AP Poll. Forward Shalonda Ellis was named an All-American and again the following year and was voted an All-SEC Player twice. In the 1997 tournament, though, Alabama dropped its Sweet Sixteen game to Notre Dame 87-71. Ellis and guard Dominique Canty led Alabama to the 1998 SEC Tournament final where it stumbled 76-63 to powerhouse Tennessee. Despite losing the championship, Canty was named SEC Tournament Most Valuable Player (MVP). Alabama made it to the third round of the 1998 NCAA tournament but lost to Louisiana Tech again. The 1998-99 season was the last year Alabama made it to the NCAA Tournament under Moody. Led by All-American Canty, who was also All-SEC and All-SEC Tournament, Alabama failed to move past the second round. Canty left the program as the all-time leading scoring, with 2,294 points.
From 1999-2004, Alabama had three winning seasons and then three losing seasons under Moody. After the 2004-05 season and a ninth-place finish in the SEC Conference, he announced his retirement, concluding his tenure with 317-176 record. He was replaced by Stephany Smith, who had been head coach for the Middle Tennessee State Blue Raiders women’s basketball program. During her time Alabama struggled, finishing 9-19 in 2005-06, 10-20 in 2006-07, and 8-22 in 2007-08 and posting a 4-39 record in conference play. Smith was fired after that season.
Wendell Hudson became the next head coach for Alabama in 2008. He had served as a women’s and men’s head coach at McLennan Community College in Texas, and during his first year at Alabama finished with a 13-17 overall record. His best season was 2010-11. Led by forward Tierney Jenkins and guard Ericka Russell, Alabama had a winning record of 18-15, its first since 2001. The program was not invited to the NCAA Tournament but did participate in the 2011 Women’s National Invitational Tournament (WNIT), making it to the third round before falling to Toledo. It was Alabama’s seventh and most successful WNIT appearance. Hudson’s next two seasons saw Alabama end with a total record of 25-37; he resigned after five seasons and a 68-87 record.
Following Hudson’s departure, Kristy Curry was hired as head coach. She previously had winning records as the head coach of Purdue and Texas Tech. From 2013-19, Curry’s teams steadily improved. Her first three seasons finished with overall records of 14-16, 13-19, and 15-16. In the 2016-17 campaign, Alabama won 22 games and 20 the next season. In 2021, the team returned to the NCAA Tournament after 22 years, as a 7th regional seed. In their first-round matchup, Alabama built a lead over North Carolina in the first quarter and did not relinquish control over the game, defeating North Carolina 80-71. In the next game, the second seed Maryland defeated Curry’s team 100-64 in the second round.
Alabama missed the NCAA Tournament the subsequent season despite finishing with an improved record. In 2022-23, Alabama lost in the NCAA first round to Baylor 78-74 and finished with a 20-11 record. The team returned to the tournament next year following a strong regular season. It won its first-round game in the NCAA Tournament against Florida State 82-74 but lost to the University of Texas-Austin in the second round 65-54 and finished with a 24-10 record.
In the 2024-25 season, Alabama posted a 24-7 record in the regular season and finished 10-6 in SEC play. Alabama was ranked in the AP Top 25 for the first time since 1998. The team had a disappointing 63-61 loss in the SEC Tournament to lower-seeded Florida. Nevertheless, UA made the NCAA Tournament ranked as a number five seed, which was the highest seeding under Curry. Led by players Sarah Ashlee Barker, Aaliyah Nye, and Zaay Green, Alabama won its first-round matchup against the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay 81-67 but lost 111-108 in the second round in a double overtime contest against Maryland.
Since Burgess, 14 women have played in the WNBA following their time at Alabama. Three players have been drafted in the first round. Tausha Mills was the second overall pick by the Washington Mystics in 2000. In 2021, Jasmine Walker was drafted by the Los Angeles Sparks seventh overall. As of the most recent WNBA draft in 2025, Sarah Ashlee Barker was selected ninth overall by the Los Angeles Sparks.
