Alabama Wheelchair Basketball Teams Combine to Win Five of Six Games at Texas-Arlington Tournament

Both the University of Alabama men’s and women’s wheelchair basketball teams traveled to Arlington, Texas to participate in the University of Texas at Arlington Tournament presented by Honey Stinger where the women’s team won all three of its games while the men’s team won two of its three games.

The Alabama women remain unbeaten in National Wheelchair Basketball Association Intercollegiate Division play after handily beating their three opponents: University of Arizona, University of Texas at Arlington, and University of Illinois.

The Tide opened the tournament on the morning of Jan. 12 with a 54-19 win over Arizona behind a game-high 16 points by senior Bailey Moody.

Alabama cruised to a 54-19 victory of the University of Arizona on the morning of Jan. 12 at the University of Texas at Arlington Tournament presented by Honey Stinger. Senior Mary Silberman (10) pictured.

(photo courtesy of Alabama Adapted Athletics)

Alabama held Arizona to 7/47 (14.9 percent) shooting from the field.

Senior Mary Silberman was the game’s leading scorer with 21 points in the Crimson Tide 66-48 victory Texas-Arlington on the evening of Jan. 12.

Sophomore Ixhelt Gonzalez had 18 points in the win, and graduate student Joy Haizelden had 12 points.

Moody was once again the game’s leading scorer with 24 points, with Gonzalez adding 14 points and Silberman adding 11 points, as Alabama concluded its tournament run with a 57-33 win over Illinois on the morning of Jan. 13.

The Alabama women move to 11-0 in NWBA Intercollegiate play this season as they look for their second consecutive undefeated run through the division.

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The Alabama men fell behind Arizona 34-19 after the first half of their tournament-opening game in the early afternoon of Jan. 12 and were unable to make up any ground in an even-scoring second half as they lost 61-46.

The Crimson Tide were held to 19/57 (33.3 percent) shooting from the field, including 2/6 on three-point attempts.

Sophomore Tim Houston led the Tide with a double-double of 17 points and ten rebounds, and freshman Gabe Taylor added ten points.

The loss was Alabama’s second loss to Arizona this season after a 65-50 defeat at the Auburn University Tournament presented by Hollister on Dec. 15.

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The Crimson Tide are 6-0 against all other opponents in NWBA intercollegiate division play this season.

Those six wins include a 58-53 win over Texas-Arlington on the first day of the tournament and an 86-31 win over Eastern Washington on the second day of the tournament.

Alabama wrapped up their play at the University of Texas at Arlington Tournament presented by Honey Stinger with an 86-32 win over Eastern Washington University on the morning of Jan. 13. Senior Peter Berry pictured.

(Photo courtesy of Alabama Adapted Athletics)

Taylor had 15 points and senior Parthasarathi Venkatram had 11 points in the win over Texas Arlington, and four Alabama players had double-digit scoring performances in the win over Eastern Washington: Houston with 18, Taylor with 16, and Venkatram and freshman Jason Foster with 14 each.

The Alabama men will get two more shots at Arizona at the upcoming UA Early College Classic at Stran-Hardin Arena, with those two contests tipping of 1:15 p.m. on Jan 19 and 6 p.m. on Jan. 20.