The Auburn Women's Basketball team (11-7, 2-3 SEC) hit the road Sunday for an SEC match up against South Carolina (10-7, 3-2 SEC), but poor shooting by the Tigers contributed to a 63-49 loss.
Senior center KeKe Carrier led Auburn with 14 points and junior guard Alli Smalley finished with 12.
USC held Auburn to 39.6 percent from the field. The Tigers made just one 3-pointer out of five attempts and 6-of-12 free throws.
"It was a tough shooting day for us," said Auburn head coach Nell Fortner. "South Carolina's defense was very good. We had some good looks on the inside and missed some easy shots."
Smalley said she felt the team slacked defensively and wasn't as aggressive as it should have been.
"We started out the game in man because of the way they can shoot the three, and they just got the hot hand and were really knocking down their threes tonight so that hurt us a lot," Smalley said.
Auburn stayed close in the first half, but two 3-pointers by the Gamecocks in the final 34 seconds left the Tigers down by nine at the break.
Carrier said the team didn't box oor shoot well.
"I think they had more of a high tempo than us at the beginning and they just played really well on the defensive end," Carrier said.
Leaders for USC included transfer Valerie Nainima with 20 points and four assists and freshman Kelsey Bone with 15 points and nine rebounds.
Early in the second half, Nainima hit three 3-pointers in as many possessions to extend the USC lead to 20 and the score 53-33.
Assistant coach Kerry Cremeans said the team didn't play with the same intensity it brought to the 64-62 win against LSU.
"South Carolina played extremely well, they were on their home floor and they had a lot of confidence," Cremeans said. "We have to bring the same fight we had at the LSU game into every game, especially when you are away in our league."
With 3:43 left in the game, Smalley hit a 3-pointer that made her 26th all-time in career scoring at Auburn with 983 career points.
The team's next match up will be against Vanderbilt (13-5, 2-3 SEC) tonight at 8 p.m. in Beard-Eaves Memorial Coliseum.
Vanderbilt, who gave the Georgia team its first loss of the season, is coming off a 64-57 loss to Tennessee.
"They beat us twice last year, we remember that and I know we'll have a lot of that competitive fire going into that game," Cremeans said.
Smalley said the key to a win tonight would be a good defense and bringing energy early.
Cremeans said the team is excited for the home game and for an in-conference televised game.
"We know how we're capable of fighting and we'll have to bring one of our best games Thursday night," Cremeans said.
Do you like this story? The Plainsman doesn't accept money from tuition or student fees, and we don't charge a subscription fee. But you can donate to support The Plainsman.
