Albany State women looking to reclaim SIAC basketball title

ALBANY — About two weeks ago, Albany State women’s basketball coach Robert Skinner issued a challenge to his team to not be content with how things were going and to strive to get better despite being one of the top teams in the SIAC.

The Rams responded by closing out the season with impressive wins against Clark-Atlanta, the top team in the East, and Miles College, ending the season 17-11 overall and 12-5 in conference play.

“I really believe that before that game they had made up their minds to finish the season on a winning note,” Skinner said.

And with that focus and determination, the Rams put on one of their better performances of the year at Clark-Atlanta. Skinner said while it helped that the Panthers were missing their starting point guard, his team’s execution was what really made the difference.

“I think what played an even bigger factor was we shot over 50 percent from the floor in that game,” he said. “We had very good, cohesive play from, of course, Elesha Foster and Kayla Green, but we had great output from Alexandria James.”

Tournament time has come and the Rams are looking to win their first conference championship since 2014. That year, the Rams were able to end a 17-year title drought and punch their ticket to the South Region Tournament.

Skinner said he believes this year’s team is right where he needs them to be as they prepare to make a run.

“I feel like we’re where we need to be,” Skinner said of his team’s play heading into the tournament. “The one thing you want to do is win in February. We’ve done that.

“We’ve been shooting the ball much better. Defensively, we’ve been holding teams to under 60 points, so we’re doing the things we need to do. We’ve just got to continue doing them.”

The Rams head to Birmingham, Ala., as the No. 2 seed and get to enjoy a first round bye. Thursday at 5:30 p.m., they will face the winner of the No. 3 Kentucky State vs. No. 6 Paine match-up. Earlier this season, ASU defeated Kentucky State 74-55. They also swept Paine, 73-70 and 75-58.