The No. 2 Mississippi State Bulldogs cruised their way to an 82-61 victory over the Auburn Tigers Thursday night in Starkville, Mississippi, touting four players scoring in double digits.
For Auburn, Janiah McKay scored a game-high 25 points, her sixth 25-plus-point game of the season. Freshman Unique Thompson racked up her seventh double-double of the season with 12 points and 10 rebounds, tying the Auburn freshman record for double-doubles in a single season. Daisa Alexander also contributed 14 points.
As has been custom for Auburn this season, the free-throw percentage differentials played a key role in the outcome of the game. Auburn made five free throws from eleven attempts compared to the Bulldogs' 21-of-23 shots attempted at the line.
The Bulldogs capped off their stellar shooting night with nine 3-pointers for the game.
Even though the final score was a large margin, the Tigers had some close moments against the second-ranked team in the country. Head coach Terri Wiliams-Flournoy was more focused on the way her players competed throughout the game rather than the result.
“Everything we told them about playing today was to compete,” Williams-Flournoy said. “If we didn’t compete, we weren’t going to give ourselves a chance to win. Mississippi State is really good. They’re undefeated, and we knew it was going to be tough to come in here. But I thought we did some really good things.
Mississippi State got ahead early in the first quarter, leading by 15 going into the second. From then on, the Tigers had almost even scoring efforts, but were just unable to get an edge with the Bulldogs' fast style of play.
The Bulldogs led by as many as 19 in the second quarter, but the Tigers continued competing. Auburn was able to get the deficit down to single digits early into the third, but a late run by the Bulldogs put the game out of reach.
The Tigers have now lost three games in a row and five total for the month of February. Coach Flo's group will be able to play in front of the home crowd at Auburn Arena for their last game of the regular season against Ole Miss on Sunday, Feb. 25 at 1:00 p.m. CT.
It will be Senior Day on The Plains, as Auburn’s five seniors – Bria Johnson, Jazmine Jones, Jessica Jones, Tiffany Lewis, and Sira Toure – as well as senior manager Darryl Cotton will be honored in a postgame ceremony.
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.
