Coming into Thursday’s showdown with the UAB Blazers, Auburn had won the last 17 matchups in the series. The Tigers' winning streak came to an end as the Blazers took down Auburn, 80-75 behind big games from Rachael Childress and Miyah Barnes.
Head coach Terri Williams-Flournoy changed some things up following the Tigers loss to Old Dominion, including a change in defensive scheme and starting lineup. Auburn opted to start Lauren Hansen, bringing Kiyae’ White off the bench.
This marked Hansen’s second collegiate game. Hansen scored just 3 points but her start allowed Daisa Alexander to move back to her traditional shooting guard role while Hansen ran the point.
Auburn got another huge game from junior Unique Thompson, who scored 24 points and tied her career-high with 19 rebounds to get her third double-double in as many games this season. Alexander scored 20 points to go along with four steals.
Hughes and Alexander were the other Auburn players to score double-digit points with the next closest coming from Erin Howard with 9.
At half Auburn trailed 41-40 in a half that saw seven ties and 15 lead changes.
Traditionally a press-zone team, Auburn switched to mostly running a man-to-man defensive scheme against the Blazers. The Tigers came into the game with defensive struggles and they continued against UAB, which shot 49.1% from the field and went 10-of-23 from 3. The Blazers were led by Childress, who holds the record among active players for most 3-point shots made.
“We just didn’t defend,” Williams-Flournoy said after the game. “Once again, we gave up 80 points. We can’t give up 80 points a game. Never. (We had) a lot of unforced turnovers. And it's not like UAB was pressing or getting in the passing lanes. We were just turning the ball over. And every time we made a mistake defensively, they capitalized off it.”
The Tigers kept the game close throughout, with UAB’s largest lead being five. The game was tied late until the Blazers broke the tie with a buzzer-beating 3 from Barnes with under 20 seconds left. Barnes got fouled on the next Blazer possession, knocking down both her free throws and extending the Blazer lead to five.
Auburn returns to Auburn Arena to take on St. Joseph’s at 7 p.m. CST on Sunday.
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