Auburn’s regular season wrapped up Sunday afternoon with a nail-biting win over the Ole Miss Rebels, 60-55.
In the first quarter, Auburn’s defense didn’t make it easy for Ole Miss, forcing the Rebels to only hit two of their first 11 shots to start the game. With the defense setting the tone, Auburn struggled to capitalize and turn missed baskets by Ole Miss into points on the other end.
The second quarter was a different story for the offense, with Auburn going on a 14-2 run to close out the half and outscoring the Rebels 19-4 in the period to take a 34-22 lead into the break.
Auburn’s defense stayed on pace, holding Ole Miss to 25 percent shooting in the first half and forcing 11 turnovers.
Both teams came out of the half ice cold. Auburn missed its first nine shots and Ole Miss failed to score a field goal until 3:40 left in the third.
Even after the scoring drought for Ole Miss, the Rebels would go on an 8-0 run over the last 1:31 including a buzzer-beating layup to trim Auburn’s lead to five.
With the lead down to five to start the fourth, Auburn relied on its “Big 3,” consisting of Daisa Alexander, Unique Thompson and Janiah McKay for offense in the fourth as they scored all the Tigers’ points to end the game.
The trio would combine for 48 of the 60 points scored for the Auburn offense.
Lackluster ball handling and stingy defense from both teams caused trouble during the game with a total of 46 turnovers combined, 19 from Auburn and 25 from Ole Miss.
“Sometimes we just got a little too careless with the ball,” Auburn senior forward Jessica Jones said. “Sometimes we tried to force it or just not make the right pass. We just have to work on that every single day and it will get better.”
With the SEC Tournament looming, Auburn locked up the 10 seed and now has momentum on their side after getting back into the win column.
“The only way to build momentum is to win,” Auburn head coach Terri Williams-Flournoy said.
Auburn’s first SEC tournament game will be against the 7 seed on Thursday, March 1 at 6 p.m. Auburn’s regular season wrapped up Sunday afternoon with a nail-biting win over the Ole Miss Rebels, 60-55.
In the first quarter, Auburn’s defense didn’t make it easy for Ole Miss, forcing the Rebels to only hit two of their first 11 shots to start the game. With the defense setting the tone, Auburn struggled to capitalize and turn missed baskets by Ole Miss into points on the other end.
The second quarter was a different story for the offense, with Auburn going on a 14-2 run to close out the half and outscoring the Rebels 19-4 in the period to take a 34-22 lead into the break.
Auburn’s defense stayed on pace, holding Ole Miss to 25 percent shooting in the first half and forcing 11 turnovers.
Both teams came out of the half ice cold. Auburn missed its first nine shots and Ole Miss failed to score a field goal until 3:40 left in the third.
Even after the scoring drought for Ole Miss, the Rebels would go on an 8-0 run over the last 1:31 including a buzzer-beating layup to trim Auburn’s lead to five.
With the lead down to five to start the fourth, Auburn relied on its “Big 3” consisting of Daisa Alexander, Unique Thompson and Janiah McKay for offense in the fourth as they scored all the Tigers’ points to end the game.
The trio would combine for 48 of the 60 points scored for the Auburn offense.
Lackluster ball handling and stingy defense from both teams caused trouble during the game with a total of 46 turnovers combined, 19 from Auburn and 25 from Ole Miss.
With the SEC tournament looming, Auburn locks up the 10 seed and now has momentum on their side after getting back into the win column.
“The only way to build momentum is to win,” Auburn head coach Terri Williams-Flournoy said.
Auburn’s first SEC Tournament game will be against the 7 seed on Thursday, March 1 at 6 p.m.
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