The Auburn women's basketball team recorded its first home Southeastern Conference win in Auburn Arena Sunday, a 51-43 decision over the Mississippi State Bulldogs.
"We got that monkey off our back," said Auburn head coach Terri Williams-Flournoy, who called the game a "very much needed win."
Auburn struggled in the first half, shooting just over 30 percent, but found themselves down by just eight points to the bulldogs at the halfway point.
"We played as bad as we could in the first half," Williams-Flournoy said. " But when you've got a player like Tyrese Tanner that juts puts the team on her back...that's a pretty good player right there."
Tanner, like the rest of the Tigers, struggled in the first half and was only able to put up four points in the first twenty minutes.
"I think right at the beginning at the game we missed five layups," Williams-Flournoy said.
Tanner said that the team realized it was playing to win instead of "playing to have fun."
"I was a little rusty in the first half," Tanner said. "Coach Walters talked to me during halftime and told me just to play and relax."
Tanner had 17 points in the second half, and was the only Tiger to score in the double-digits.
"I was really tired," Tanner said. "But when you're making a run on a team, you feel good."
As Tanner's game improved in the second half, the team's did as well.
"We depend on Ty," said junior guard Hasina Muhammad. "Whenever she's having a good game, then usually we're playing pretty good."
Williams-Flournoy reiterated the notion that as goes Tanner, so go the Tigers.
"She is their leader," Williams-Flournoy said. "They feel comfortable when Tyrese is playing well."
Williams-Flournoy added that Tanner's scoring gives the tigers more confidence on the defensive side of the ball.
"Brandy Montgomery had four steals," Williams-Flournoy said. "I doubt Brandy has had four steals in her career at Auburn."
The Tigers played well defensively throughout the game, holding the bulldogs to their second lowest point total of the season, and creating 27 turnovers with 20 steals.
"It's our philosophy to force teams into turnovers," Williams-Flournoy said. "We want to cause havoc, we want to make the game as ugly as it can be. "
The low-scoring affair was the second straight SEC win for the Tigers, coming one week after a 56-48 win at Arkansas.
With just six games to go, the Tigers head to Nashville on Thursday to take on Vanderbilt.
"These next two practices, we have to be ready to play," Tanner said. "We can take Vanderbilt at their house."
The team will return home next Sunday to take on the visiting Missouri Tigers.
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