Auburn women's basketball traveled to Nashville to participate in the Challenge in Music City tournament over the weekend, dropping the final two games of the weekend after a Friday night win.
Auburn had an extremely balanced effort vs. Georgetown, getting contributions from all players, that allowed them to cruise past the Hoyas 60-40. The Tigers shot 51 percent from the field, having 36 points in the paint compared to Georgetown’s 10. Four Auburn players scored in double figures including senior Jessica Jones and freshman Unique Thompson who had 12 each. Jones was perfect from the field, going 6-for-6 for the night.
“We were taking high-percentage shots," said head coach Terri Williams-Flournoy. "I thought the twins (Jazmine & Jessica Jones) did a good job of picking up the scoring, Unique (Thompson) inside, too. We rebounded the ball well, but more than anything, we got points in the paint. We want to take those high-percentage shots.”
Another factor for Auburn’s win was the successful play of the bench.
“When you can get production off the bench, and we had 28 points off the bench, that gives us a chance to be able to rest some people,” Williams-Flournoy said. “When you’re playing three games in a row, you want to be able to rest as many players as you can. By that third game, you want them to still have fresh legs."
After a confidence boost against Georgetown, the Tigers faced Northwestern. The Tigers trailed most of the game, but the Tigers remained persistent.
With 3:26 left in the third quarter, Auburn was trailing Northwestern 36-23. Auburn went on a 12-0 run over the next four minutes to cut the lead to one. In dramatic fashion, the Tigers took the lead 46-43 lead after Tiffany Lewis’ three. The teams started to trade points, the Tigers managing a dismal lead until the final seconds of the game. Northwestern took the lead with 13 seconds left to play on game-winning shot by Jordan Hamilton.
Unlike the game against Georgetown, Auburn had its worst shooting performance of the season, finishing 31.7 percent from the field.
Janiah McKay led Auburn with 12 points and four assists. Emari Jones had nine points, two shy of a career-high, and shared the team lead with six rebounds.
The final game of the tournament was played against Chattanooga. Despite McKay leading all scorers with 18 points, Auburn fell 50-41.
Once again, the Tigers found themselves trailing by double-digit points late in the first half. Despite efforts to cut into the lead, the early lead and momentum set by Chattanooga were too much for the Tigers to overcome. The Mocs went 16-20 on the free throw line.
“We dug a hole too deep, and we couldn’t get out," Williams-Flournoy said. “We have to be able to score. We can’t set up our press if we don’t score. We got steals, but we didn’t convert those. When we force a live-ball turnover, we’ve got to be able to score in transition. The defense is not the problem; we’ve got to fix the offense. We’re playing great defense, holding opponents to 50 points or fewer. But we’ve got to better offensively.”
The Tigers had another poor shooting night going 16-56 (28 percent) as a team.
Although the results were disappointing, the Tigers stayed true to their defensive mentality, forcing 20+ turnovers in all three games.
The Tigers return back to Auburn Arena to play Louisiana-Monroe on Wednesday, Nov. 28th.
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.
