Sarah Ashlee Barker may have raised her WNBA Draft stock on Monday. At the very least, she jotted her name into the NCAA Tournament record book with a sharpie.
The senior guard for the fifth-seeded Alabama Crimson Tide went down furiously swinging in the final game of her college career, scoring 45 points in a double-overtime loss at No. 4 Maryland, 111-108.
Barker’s point total is a single-game program record for Alabama, and also tied fourth-most points ever scored by one player in an NCAA Tournament. The player Barker tied is Ohio State’s Kelsey Mitchell, and the players ranking ahead of her are Lori Bauman (50 in 1982), Sheryl Swoopes (47 in 1993) and Jayne Appel (46 in 2009).
The 6-foot senior from Birmingham shot 17-of-25 from the floor, 4-of-6 from 3-point land and 7-of-11 from the free throw line in what will long be remembered as an incredible performance in College Park, Maryland. She also had eight rebounds, three assists and three steals in 45 minutes of play against the Terps.
Sarah Ashlee Barker over her final 13 games of the season after returning from injury on Jan. 26:
21.2 points, 6.8 rebounds, 4.6 assists on 57% 2P & 42% 3P (61% TS)
That’s a first-round pick.
— Hunter Cruse (@HunterCruse14) March 25, 2025
Barker’s 3-pointer near the end of the fourth quarter gave Alabama a lead with 37 seconds to play, but Maryland’s Sarah Te-Biasu responded with a deep shot of her own to send the game into overtime. At the end of the first extra period, Barker knocked down three consecutive free throws with no time left to send the game into a second OT.
At the end of the final overtime, a shot by Barker’s teammate missed the mark, and then Te-Biasu came up with a steal to seal the win for Maryland.
It was the first double-overtime game in the women’s NCAA Tournament since a 2022 Elite Eight game between N.C. State and UConn. It was the first double-overtime game Maryland had played in since 2008.
A victory for Barker’s Alabama would have put the Crimson Tide in the Sweet 16 for the first time since 1998. Instead, Maryland advances to the second weekend for the fourth time in five years.
But Alabama fans will always remember this performance by Barker — the daughter of a former Alabama quarterback — who leaves the Crimson Tide as one of the program’s greatest players.
