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A spirit that is not afraid

Auburn rallies in second half, tops Gators for 1st SEC win

"We continued to fight, they picked it up on the defensive end, and that really helped a lot. We knew we could turn them over, but we needed to score off those turnovers, and we did that today.

Crystal Primm (23) looks to make a pass during Auburn Women's Basketball vs. Tennessee on Thursday, Jan. 3, 2019, in Auburn, Ala.
Crystal Primm (23) looks to make a pass during Auburn Women's Basketball vs. Tennessee on Thursday, Jan. 3, 2019, in Auburn, Ala.

Daisa Alexander had 22 points, Janiah McKay added 16 as Auburn (13-2, 1-1 SEC) completed the 64-56 come-from-behind win at Florida after being down by six at halftime on Sunday afternoon. 

Auburn got into early foul trouble and had poor shooting but turned it around in the second half. Auburn shot 55.6 percent in the last 20 minutes of the game and converted 13 Florida turnovers in the second half into 25 points to secure the late win. 

"It's so hard when you get people in foul trouble, the rotation is different, you're out of sync a little bit," Auburn head coach Terri Williams-Flournoy said. "But we persevered. We continued to fight, they picked it up on the defensive end, and that really helped a lot. We knew we could turn them over, but we needed to score off those turnovers, and we did that today.

"Once Unique (Thompson) got back in the ballgame (after dealing with early foul trouble), we had to get the ball inside. We couldn't stand out there and just shoot 3s; that was not our game plan."

Alexander’s 22 points were a season-high, and she also added team-leading five steals. McKay also had six rebounds, six assists and three steals along with her 16 points. 

The pair of Auburn guards combined for 25 points in the second half. Unique Thompson was the leading rebounder for Auburn with nine rebounds along with eight points. Crystal Primm also added nine points in the win. 

Auburn survived the rough first half that saw the Tigers score a season-low 25 points on 33 percent from the field. 

The second half was a completely different Auburn, as the Tigers shot 55.6 percent from the field and used two separate 8-0 scoring runs to pull away with the win. Auburn finished the game on 44 percent shooting while Florida shot 34.6 percent. Auburn also out-rebounded Florida to the tune of 34-32 and scored 31 points off of Florida’s 20 turnovers. 

"We had to just keep our heads and stay poised," McKay said. "That's the biggest thing going into the locker room, I just kept telling the team, 'We're fine, we just need to relax.' Our press wasn't where it needed to be in the first half, and I think that was the momentum-changer to the second half. We upped our pressure, we were composed, and we got a lot of points."

Auburn trailed 17-16 at the end of the first and opened the second quarter on a 9-2 run and led 25-19 with 3:46 to play. Florida then ended the half on a 12-0 run as Auburn went ice-cold from the field and did not score in the final 7:25 of the of the half and trailed 31-25 at halftime. Auburn also got into early foul trouble with five players having at least two fouls by halftime. 

Auburn kicked it into gear to start the second half with an opening 6-2 run, then went on an 11-0 run over a six-minute period, regaining the lead after an Alexander steal-and-score with 3:37 left and took a 40-39 lead. 

Auburn never trailed again, and heading into the fourth and final quarter, they were winning 48-44. Florida kept it close with a three early in the fourth quarter to make it a one-point game, but Auburn proceeded to go on a 8-0 run over the next four minutes and held Florida scoreless for nearly seven minutes in the final quarter. 

About 100 fans showed up in Auburn orange and navy to support the two Florida natives McKay (Gainesville) and Primm (West Palm Beach) on the team.

"It's so great coming back home," McKay said. "This game is a special one, and being my last one here, I'm happy we were able to get the win."

Florida’s Kiara Smith led with 15 points and teammate Funda Nakkasoglu added 11 points. 

Auburn finishes the two-game road trip on Thursday night when they head to Tuscaloosa to face Alabama at 7 p.m. CST at Coleman Coliseum. 

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