The Auburn women's basketball team will move on to the third round of the WNIT by way of a dominating win over Old Dominion on Monday night.
After a back-and-forth first half that ended on a Tyrese Tanner buzzer-beating layup, the Tigers took charge in the second half, outscoring the Big Blue 52 to 31 in the final 20 minutes for a 82-59 final score.
"The young ladies came out after halftime and just took complete control of the game," said Auburn head coach Terri Williams-Flournoy.
Auburn outscored Old Dominion 44-14 below the basket, which, according to senior center Peyton Davis, they knew they were going to be able to do.
"That was our plan the last few days," Davis said. "We're a lot bigger than they are. I'm 6-foot-5, Tra'cee [Tanner] is 6-foot-3, and they're only 6-foot-1. The goal was to get it in the paint."
The Tigers' leading scorer on the night was Tyrese Tanner, who had 24 points. Four other Tigers scored in the double-digits, including freshman Katie Frerking, who had 11.
"Katie is one hard worker," Tanner said. "She's a tough freshman to guard, and she did a great job tonight."
Tanner also led the team in assists on the night with 5 of team's total of 29.
"We had 29 assists, which is absolutely awesome," Williams-Flournoy said. "That's a great job of sharing the ball.
Holding on to a 30-28 lead at halftime, Williams-Flournoy said she told her team that they had to start attacking the basket more.
"I told them I thought we were not being as aggressive as we could be," Williams-Flournoy said. "Let's stop standing out there taking jump shots. Let's get the ball in transition and let's attack the basket."
Defensively, Auburn was able to force Old Dominion into 20 turnovers, with 13 coming in the second half.
"In the first half, our second line of defense was coming up just a little too soon," Williams-Flournoy said. "We tried to get them to hold the middle a little bit longer, and wait for the next rotation, and that worked for us in the second half."
The win pushes the Tigers into the third round of the WNIT, where they will take on the winner of Monday's game between Mississippi State and Southern Miss.
The Tigers swept the two-game regular season series with Mississippi State with a pair of eight-point wins over the Bulldogs.
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