The Tigers came back from a 20-point deficit with about 18 minutes to play, and two buckets from freshman Robyn Benton in the last 8.6 seconds of the game lifted them to the win in Nashville over Vanderbilt, 72-20.
When the Commodores took a 49-29 lead with 7:53 minutes left in the third quarter, the Tigers were facing their largest comeback bid under coach Terri Williams-Flournoy. Auburn was not making the shots they needed to keep up with Vanderbilt, and their defense was lacking coming back from halftime.
“When the shots aren’t falling, the game can’t just end,” Williams-Flournoy said. “You’ve got to figure out how to defend and rebound.”
The Tigers did figure out how to defend the Vanderbilt offense, led by Cierra Walker, who had eight 3-pointers and scored a game-high 25 points for the Commodores.
After Vanderbilt took the 20-point lead, the Tigers allowed the Commodores to score only twice more in the third. The Tigers forced seven turnovers of the eight possessions the Commodores had to close out the third.
“Give Vandy credit, the offense they were running, we got caught in our 1-2-2,” Williams-Flournoy said. “So we went back to man-to-man, and we did an unbelievable job of sitting down and defending in our man-to-man.”
As the defense stepped up, the Tigers offense sparked as well. They outscored Vandy 43-21 in the last 18-plus minutes of the game. Their third quarter turnaround ended on an 18-4 run that was closed out by a buzzer-beating 3-pointer from Erica Sanders that brought the Tigers within six.
Crystal Primm tied the game with a 3-point shot with 3:21 left in the game. She had eight points on the night, as did Benton. After a missed free throw by Vandy, Janiah McKay hit an 18-foot jumper to give the Tigers their first lead of the game at 69-68 with a little over a minute left to play.
McKay led the Tigers offensively with 19 points and six assists.
After the Commodores took the lead back with 22 seconds left, Benton drove into the paint and made the shot after hitting the rim three times. During the play, she drew contact, and her free throw gave the Tigers back their final lead.
“Robyn made a great drive to the basket,” Williams-Flourney said. “ She knew she got fouled, so she just kind of threw it up. And it went in.”
Of the 43 points Auburn scored in the second half, 12 came from Daisa Alexander, who had 14 total for the night. Unique Thompson had a double-double for the eighth time this season, scoring 16 and rebounding 13.
The turnaround of the defense made the last minute heroics possible, a point Coach Flo keeps reenforcing to the Tigers.
“It goes back to what I’ve been trying to preach to them- it’s our defense that wins games,” Williams-Flourney said. “It’s our defense that makes our offense.”
Next, the Tigers will face Texas A&M at Auburn Arena on Jan. 24 at 7:30 p.m. CST. The game will be broadcasted on the SEC Network for the annual We Back Pat game.
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