TUSCALOOSA | It’s been almost 10 years since the University of Alabama women’s basketball team made it to the NCAA Tournament. Barring an improbable run starting today in the Southeastern Conference Tournament, the Crimson Tide will again spend the postseason at home.

No. 12 seed Alabama (8-21, 1-13) faces the No. 5 seed Georgia Bulldogs (21-8, 8-6) at 6:30 p.m. at the Sommet Center in Nashville, Tenn.

It is the 10th straight season Alabama enters the SEC tournament as one of the bottom four seeded teams. The Tide earned a first-round bye in the 1998 tournament, which was also the last time it played in the championship game. Last season UA lost to Ole Miss 78-49 in last season’s opening round and dropped a 86-54 contest to Vanderbilt the previous season.

Georgia enters the game the No. 22 ranked team in the country and fresh off a loss to the No. 3 ranked Tennessee Lady Vols.

The Bulldogs scored an 18-point win over the Tide, 71-53 back in January.

Smith said the teams last meeting was a sloppy game.

“When we played them in Athens we did some good things defensively that was bothersome to their point guard and to the sync of their offense,” Smith said. “We forced them into shots that weren’t necessarily the ones they wanted to take.

“On the flip side of that, however, I went back and I watched what they did to us and how they disrupted our offense. They really took us out of sync with a lot of pressure, and we didn’t do much to counter that pressure, which would usually come with attacking the basket.”

Alabama hasn’t won a game since Jan. 10, when it beat South Carolina 65-54. The Tide has lost 13 straight games.

Freshman forward Tierney Jenkins is experiencing a homecoming of sorts. With the game being playing in Nashville, she is 20 miles from her home in Mt. Juliet, Tenn.

Jenkins said some friends and family will be in attendance at today’s game, although her high school coach, Bud Brandon, won’t be able to make it as he coaches Jenkins’ former team Wilson Central in the Tennessee State High School playoffs. She said the team has had their ups-and-downs but has kept their fight.

“I think we’re a lot better than what we’ve showed sometimes,” Jenkins said. “I think we have a good possibility to win [today].”

Jenkins earns

freshman honor

Jenkins got good news on Wednesday when she found out she had been named to the SEC All-Freshman team. She led the team in scoring with 11.6 points a game. She also averaged 6.7 rebounds.

She is the first Alabama player to be named to the All-Freshman team since Kate Mastin received the honor in 2004.

“This is the biggest career achievement I’ve had so far,” Jenkins said.

“It’s an honor.”