After a pair of tough SEC losses against Missouri and Tennessee, the Auburn women's basketball team started and finished strong Sunday to knock off rival Georgia at Auburn Arena.
Senior Tyrese Tanner and freshman Brandy Montgomery each scored 21 points for the Tigers, who forced 24 Bulldog turnovers in the victory.
"That's 24 possessions that we took away from them," said Auburn head coach Terri Williams-Flournoy. "That's what we're trying to get our girls to see. It's not so much turning it over and scoring them from it, but it's 24 possessions that they didn't have."
Tanner sat 17 of the first 20 minutes in the first half because of foul trouble, but she was able to come back from halftime to get 19 second-half points.
"In this game, we really stepped it up with our steals and our press, forcing them to turn it over and then converting off of them," Tanner said. "We just attacked the basket and went hard in the second half."
Tyrese's sister Tra'cee Tanner added 11 points, and Hasina Muhammad recorded three blocks in the final 75 seconds to secure the Auburn win.
The two sides went back and forth for the majority of the first half. Montgomery overcame a slow start from deep with three consecutive 3-pointers midway through the first 20 minutes of action.
"Brandy Montgomery really helped us," Williams-Flournoy said. "I thought she did a great job. She hit some really big shots for us, and she kept us in the game in the first half."
The Tigers shot just 31 percent from the floor as a team, but Williams-Flournoy's patented full-court press was enough to get Georgia out of its offensive rhythm, especially in the second half.
Georgia raced out to a 5-point lead midway through the second half, but Auburn responded with an 8-0 led by Tyrese Tanner.
The older Tanner shone in the second half on her Senior Day, scoring nine straight points for Tigers in their run to the lead and going 11-for-12 from the free-throw line.
"We shot 100 free throws after practice yesterday," Tanner said. "That got us pretty warm. When we played Georgia last year, we were 3-for-15 from the line. Our focus was to knock them down this game."
Auburn's second senior, center Peyton Davis, hauled down a team-high seven rebounds while notching a crucial layup in the final minutes of the game.
The Tigers led by one point with two minutes left to play. Tanner hit a mid-range jumper off an offensive rebound by freshman Kiani Parker to extend the Auburn lead.
Muhammad went on her block party on three of Georgia's late possessions, keeping the Bulldogs off the scoreboard and allowing Auburn to take an 8-point lead from the free-throw line.
"I just knew we needed some defensive stops to win," said Muhammad, who finished with four blocks and four steals. "It came down to heart. Everybody did their part and defended well. When it came down to me as the last line, I just had to go for it."
Auburn will host its final game of the season at Auburn Arena this Thursday, Feb. 27, against in-state rival Alabama. The Tigers blew out the Crimson Tide 61-39 in Tuscaloosa earlier this season.
"Alabama probably wants to come in here and cut our heads off after we pretty much beat the devil out of them [in Tuscaloosa]," Williams-Flournoy said. "It's an Alabama team that's playing pretty well right now. It's another game that we need to be ready for like any other game, but they will feel like they didn't play well against us the first time."
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