SOUTHEASTERN CONFERENCE WOMEN'S BASKETBALL TOURNAMENT

March 6, 2026

Kristy Curry

Karly Weathers

Bon Secours Wellness Arena

Alabama Crimson Tide

Postgame Press Conference

Texas 83, Alabama 60

THE MODERATOR: We're joined by Alabama head coach Kristy Curry and student-athlete Karly Weathers. We'll get a brief opening statement from Coach, take questions from Karly. We'll dismiss Karly and take questions for Coach.

KRISTY CURRY: Texas played great. You credit their play tonight. They were outstanding. Had four in double figures. We were just a little disjointed to start the game, and I think you have to credit their defense.

So proud of my team. I'm so proud of who they've tried to be all year. Three WNBA draft picks. 60 percent of our scoring, 40 percent of our assists, 60 percent of our rebounding.

This group, what they did from June 1 on, and probably be a higher seed than we were a year ago, is absolutely astounding. Credit our four seniors. We have a lot of basketball to play, and we're really excited and proud for the opportunity that lies ahead for our program.

THE MODERATOR: Questions for Karly.

Q. Karly, can you talk about the positives that you're going to get out of these three days here in Greenville?

KARLY WEATHERS: It's kind of what we just talked about with our team in there. When we were playing together, we were a really fun team to watch. And we were a really fun team to play with, like with each other and stuff.

I think we did a lot of things well. I was proud we did not go away today. We could have ran from the challenge today. Obviously, the previous two games, you're playing against really good opponents. For us to come out with wins in those games, I'm very proud of us.

I think we have a good group of girls in that locker room. I expect us to be as good as we can possibly be come the NCAA Tournament because we have a really good coaching staff that will push us in the next two weeks. I think there's a lot of positives coming from these last three games.

Q. Karly, what makes this Texas team so difficult to go against defensively? Especially in the first half, the last two games you guys played against them.

KARLY WEATHERS: Credit to them. They have some phenomenal players. Obviously, they have a little size on us. At the end of the day, I think our coaches did a good job of putting a scout together. I don't think we did a very good job of executing that.

But they have a bunch of really good players. They have scorers. You look down the list, scorer, scorer, scorer, scorer. When you're looking at that, it makes it more challenge to defend. Credit their coaches. They put them in really good positions to be able to score the ball as well.

Q. How much does playing a full SEC schedule, three games in the SEC tournament prepare you for the NCAA Tournament, especially with how good the league has been top to bottom?

KARLY WEATHERS: I continue to say I firmly believe -- and I guess I'm a little bit biased because I've played in it the last four years, but I think this is the best league in America. It's a gruelling schedule, but you're playing against the best players in the country night in and night out.

I say all the time, you have Texas Thursday, then South Carolina on Sunday. You have to have, like, short-term memory, which is kind of like if you win and advance in the NCAA Tournament, you also have to have that short-term memory.

Playing against the players that we play against, we play against some of the best in the country. So that gives us a little bit of an advantage because we've had to defend some of the best players in the country all season long.

We've also had to learn how to be physical. There's just so many things you have to learn to win in the SEC. And it just pushes you to be the best version of yourself every single night.

THE MODERATOR: Karly, thank you very much.

KARLY WEATHERS: Thank y'all.

THE MODERATOR: We'll take questions for Coach.

Q. Kristy, what is it about Texas that makes them so good defensively?

KRISTY CURRY: I think, first of all, they've got great size. Then they have tremendous pressure on the ball. Rori does a phenomenal job. You have to have great ball pressure, presence on the ball, and it feeds from there.

I think -- and I could be wrong, so forgive me if I'm wrong, I think it's five McDonald's All-Americans in their starting lineup. If I'm incorrect...

So, you know, they're extremely big. They're extremely talented. Their bench, there's not a lot of letdown defensively. We all know Vic and his leadership defensively. He's the best defensive coach in the country, in my opinion.

So credit they're just long and big, great size, great energy, great presence on the ball. They just make it really, really hard for you to be comfortable.

So I think, again, when you can defend and rebound like they do, you give yourselves a chance. They're a 1 seed for a reason, in my opinion.

Q. Coach, I know you had a plan coming here to Greenville. How do you think the three days went for you and your team?

KRISTY CURRY: I think everybody forgets, we played South Carolina twice. Anybody else that would have played them twice would have had a hard time too. We come in here as the 11 seed. We're not the 11 seed in the SEC. That's the way the schedule fell.

At the end of the day, every experience we've had in the regular season in the SEC, we played 3, 4, 5, and 10 four out of the last five games. Went to Florida and won. Came here and won two. Ran into a buzz saw today, a No. 1 seed.

All of those experiences, keeping that in perspective and positive, we're excited about the NCAA Tournament. I can promise you what we'll see there, we've already seen. Sometimes you've got to go through it to get to it, and we're really excited about the opportunity.

We're looking through the windshield, not the rearview mirror.

THE MODERATOR: Thank you, Coach.

KRISTY CURRY: Thank you all for covering women's basketball. Roll Tide.