Bonner: covered by Georgia’s Jasmine Lee (No.3) and Angela Puleo during Auburn’s 82-52 win over the Bulldogs Jan. 13 in Auburn. Pete Riley / PHOTO EDITOR
The 2007-2008 chapter of Auburn women’s basketball was completed Friday as the Tigers fell to No. 21 Vanderbilt 49-44 in the quarterfinals of the SEC tournament in Nashville, Tenn.
Although the Commodores held a strong lead throughout the majority of the game, the victor was unclear in the final minutes of play.
The match up was a defensive battle as both teams had 13 offensive rebounds, but Vanderbilt aggressively had 27 defensive rebounds with seven steals, compared to Auburn’s three steals.
“I feel like I just got done with a prize fight,” Fortner said in a press conference. “It was like one slug, then another slug. It was just a hard-fought defensive battle.
With 1:45 remaining, Vanderbilt’s team scoring leader Christina Wirth’s sole bucket of the night broke a tie at 41 to give the Commodores 43.
“She had been so consistent for us and has been the go-to (and) has hit so many big shots,” said Vanderbilt coach Melanie Balcomb. “She stepped up at the end and had that big shot. That says a lot about her maturity on the floor as a player.”
Alli Smalley committed three fouls within the final 65 seconds giving the Commodores the chance to earn six points from the line, which they did.
Sherell Hobbs was fouled and sank one of her two free throws. DeWanna Bonner’s jumper with two seconds on the clock closed the gap by five, but Vanderbilt’s win was sealed.
Jordan Greenleaf explained in a press conference how the defense was able to hold Vanderbilt to just 49 points.
“We knew in order to stay in the game with them we had to limit their three-point shots, and that was one of the things we focused on in this game, and I think we did a good job with that,” Greenleaf said.
The Commodores advanced to Saturday’s semifinals and took on their in-state rivals, the Vols, who dominated Florida 92-61.
Tennessee pummeled Vanderbilt 63-48, advancing to the finals to take on the No. 1 team in the conference LSU.
The Vols were declared the SEC champions after their 61-55 victory Sunday.
Despite the loss, Bonner earned 13 rebounds and a game-high 23 points against Vanderbilt.
She was almost perfect at the line, making 11 of 12 free-throw attempts.
Although Vanderbilt held a 12-point lead at one point, the Tigers capitalized on their errors to play catch-up.
The Commodores had 19 turnovers and 21 personal fouls while Auburn had 14 and 15, respectively.
Vanderbilt took advantage of Auburn’s slow start as it took the Tigers more than five minutes to get four points on the board.
Auburn missed all 13 three-point attempts and were just 16-27 at the free throw line.
Auburn completes its season with a 7-7 conference record and went 20-11 overall.
The Tigers started their season strong as they held on to a No. 14 national ranking in the Associated Press poll in weeks three, four and five.
Auburn was undefeated until week six when it fell to Texas A&M in a heart-breaking two-point loss. Its first conference loss was at the hands of this year’s championship winner, Tennessee, Jan. 10.
Auburn made it to the quarterfinals after it defeated Arkansas in the first round Thursday. The Tigers dominated the Razorbacks in a 74-51 victory.
Bonner earned her 14th double-double of the season with 26 points and 14 rebounds. Greenleaf racked up a career-best 17 points during play.
The now-SEC champion Lady Vols will play in the first round of the NCAA tournament March 22. The venue and opponent have not yet been revealed.
