The Auburn women’s basketball team took the court for the first official team practice of the preseason Sunday, beginning preparations for head coach Terri Williams-Flournoy’s fifth season on The Plains.
The Tigers went through a high-energy, three-hour workout on the Auburn Arena main floor, focusing on defensive drills early and getting in plenty of five-on-five work throughout the practice.
“We got after it,” Williams-Flournoy said. “We played at a very fast pace, which is how we play. The veteran players really stepped up. They showed a lot of poise in what we did. And we went five-on-five and went into our press – we did everything that we do right away.”
With 15 players on the roster for the upcoming season – 13 of which are eligible to play immediately with a 14th becoming eligible after the first semester – the Tigers depth will allow them to go full-speed in practices and scrimmages, which Williams-Flournoy said will help prepare for game action.
“I think they learned today that playing the way we play, you’re not going to be able to play it very long,” she said. “So everybody’s got to be ready to play.”
The Tigers up-tempo style helped them finish second in the SEC averaging 11.4 steals per game.
The season opener is set for 5:30 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 11, against Troy, an NCAA Tournament team from a year ago. The game will be apart of a doubleheader with the Auburn men’s team, who will take on North Florida. The Tigers will play 13 home games at Auburn Arena in 2016-17.
Auburn is coming off a 20-13 season in 2015-16 and earned its 19th NCAA Tournament berth, advancing to the second round. The Tigers return four starters and eight total letter winners from last year’s squad, including leading scorer Brandy Montgomery and SEC steals leader Katie Frerking.
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