"There's a reason Auburn is 19-0," said Alabama head coach Wendell Hudson. "They are a good basketball team."
The No. 5 Tigers preserved their perfect season as they defeated Alabama (12-7, 0-4 Southeastern Conference) 84-66.
Senior Dewonna Bonner was again the top scorer for the Tigers with 24 points. She is currently ranked 16th in the nation in scoring and 66th in the country in rebounding. She averages 20 points and 9 boards per game, putting her in a class with only seven other players in the nation.
"DeWannna Bonner draws so much attention from everybody and has been drawing that attention for awhile," Hudson said. "She is able to make everyone around her better."
The Tigers came out strong and scored first with a layup by senior forward Trevesha Jackson. Alabama answered and maintained a close margin throughout the first half, but was never able to lead Auburn.
Auburn led 36-30 at half time.
"We kept it close in the first half, and that is what we were trying to do," said Varisia Raffington. Raffington led Alabama with a career high of 19 points.
"Our defense wasn't very good, it was really mediocre," said senior guard Whitney Boddie. Boddie scored 12 points and had 12 assists.
After half time field goal percentages saw drastic changes. Auburn improved their field goal percentage rate from 53% to 74%. Alabama's decreased from 54% to 39%.
"In the second half we just had to come out and show we're Auburn," Boddie said.
With 2:10 remaining, Sherell Hobbs scored a three pointer, which put the Tigers up by 22 and gave them their largest margin of the game.
A layup by Courtney Strauthers with only 26 seconds left in the second half extended the lead to the final 84-66 and prompted the band to play "Glory Glory to Auburn."
Auburn spirit continued in full force as the All Auburn, All Orange crowd shouted a different chorus of "Rammer Jammer Yellow Hammer" as players left the court.
"They [the crowd] were definitely into the game and we appreciate that a lot," Auburn head coach Nell Fortner said. "I could tell the students were out tonight because they were yelling their heads off. We need that on Sunday."
Auburn's win over Alabama extends Auburn's lead in the series to 37-32 and Fortner's record to 8-1 over the Crimson Tide.
The Tigers will host defending national champion Tennessee at 2 p.m. on Sunday and Fortner anticipates that it will be her biggest game in her 5 seasons at Auburn.
"They're coming in here and our crowd is much better and everything is just there for us right now," DeWanna Bonner said. "I feel like we have a better team, but they're going to come out ready to play just like everybody else. We just have to be focused. We just have to go out there and play our game. "
The Tigers have never beaten Tennessee.
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