Auburn's historic season, which saw program records set and team personal bests tallied under head coach Terri Williams-Flournoy, ended early on Saturday in California.
The 10-seed Auburn Tigers (22-10, 9-7 SEC) fell 73-64 to 7-seed BYU in Stanford, California in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament.
"I'm definitely very proud of my young ladies," Auburn head coach Terri Williams-Flournoy said. "We continued to fight all day long like we've done all season long.
"BYU is a very good team. We knew that. We knew they had some very good scorers, some very good guards that could score. But we continued to fight. Not the way we wanted it to end, but I'm proud of what our girls have done this year."
Auburn ultimately suffered the same issues that plagued it when they went up against Texas A&M in the SEC Tournament quarterfinals -- poor shooting and not being able to turn turnovers into points.
Auburn shot a ghastly 32 percent from the field and scored just 14 points off of BYU's 16 turnovers. Auburn averages 13 forced turnovers a game and scores 23.7 points off them..
Auburn was down 28-26 at halftime before BYU went on a run and outscored the Tigers 23-13 in the third quarter. Auburn attempted a comeback in the fourth quarter and was able to cut the BYU lead to five, but the Cougars pulled away on free throws and a few untimely Auburn turnovers.
"We've been taught to never give up," McKay said of the fourth-quarter rally. "We always keep fighting … no matter if your back is against the wall, you have to continue to push through."
Auburn shined on the rebounding side of things, out-rebounding the Cougars to the tune of 46-39. Sophomore forward Unique Thompson matched her career-high in rebounding with 19 boards on the day, recording her 17th double-double of the season.
Seniors Janiah McKay and Erica Sanders both had solid performances for the Tigers. McKay led Auburn in scoring and assists with 19 points and six assists in 34 minutes of game time. Off the bench, Sanders matched her season-high of six points and had three steals in 22 minutes of action.
BYU was led in scoring by junior guard Brenna Chase with 19. Teammates Shaylee Gonzales and Caitlyn Alldredge also scored in double figures with 17 and 14 points, respectively.
Auburn's senior class of Emari Jones, Erica Sanders and Janiah McKay will leave Auburn basketball with three NCAA Tournament appearances in four seasons.
"You hate that this is your last game, but I wanted to leave a legacy of working hard, having character," McKay said. "I'm really excited about the future of this program, and now it's (time for) the next step. The real world is next. I'm very excited for that."
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