Date Posted: 11/28/2007

NASHVILLE, Tenn. - The Belmont women's basketball "Rock"ed its way to its third win of the season on Wednesday night at the Curb Event Center behind the 29-point performance of sophomore Amber Rockwell. The Bruins gained a double digit lead early in the first half and never looked back en route to a 75-58 win over Alabama. The victory became the 500th of Head Coach Tony Cross's career and snapped a two-game skid. With the win, Cross becomes the first women's coach in program history to notch 500 wins. Belmont also joins only three other programs in the country that feature 500-win coaches in both men's and women's basketball.

The score in the opening minutes was not indicative of the feverish pitch the teams played at. Belmont jumped out to a quick 4-2 lead behind a put back jumper by senior Brooke Sunday (Sparta, Tenn.). A shot by Tierney Jenkins knotted the score but the Bruins were able to push ahead to an 11-6 advantage by the 13 minute mark. The Crimson Tide was able to close the gap to two, 14-12, before BU went on a 6-2 run to go up, 20-14.

The Crimson Tide slipped into a drought that lasted nearly three minutes that saw the Bruins expand their lead to 10, 25-15, after a three pointer from the top of the arc by sophomore Amber Rockwell (Tuscaloosa, Ala.) with 4:37 left before the break. Belmont did not score for the next two minutes but Alabama was only able to add one point from the charity stripe during the block. Rockwell and classmate Kristin Bunch (Fayetteville, Ga.) drained back-to-back triples to go up, 33-16, with just over 90 seconds left on the clock. The Bruins used a strong defensive effort to keep Alabama from scoring as time expired and sent the teams to the locker rooms with the same score.

After the break, Belmont wasted little time piling on more points. Junior Jessica Bobbitt opened up a 7-2 run that gave the Bruins a 40-18 lead. BU built its lead up to 22, 44-22, by the 16:20 mark. Rockwell exploded for her own 7-0 run, expanding the score to 51-24. The Crimson Tide tallied seven points from the free-throw line and the floor to get back to within 20 points of the hot shooting Bruins.

Suddenly, Belmont hit a wall and was unable to find the bottom of the net. Alabama took full advantage of the halt in scoring to close the gap to 15, 56-41, with just over nine minutes left in regulation. However, the Crimson Tide's desire to knot the score and their ability to knock down critical shots down the stretch were not matched. The Bruins maintained their double digit lead as time waned, never allowing Alabama to get closer than 13 points. A free throw by Sunday with 28.7 ticks on the clock sealed the contest for the Bruins and gave them the 75-58 victory.

Related Links:
 • Belmont-Alabama Box Score
 • Full Article at BelmontBruins.com