At noon on Monday, the Auburn women’s hoops team hit the floor to matchup with the Kennesaw State Owls. This was the first ever matchup between the two teams.
Auburn's eventual 66-54 victory over Kennesaw State extends Auburn’s win streak to six.
“I thought we got a little comfortable toward the end. That’s part of the immaturity of our team… We had three or four turnovers starting in the fourth quarter and then we turned it over back-to-back-to-back, and they were unforced turnovers, so I was a little disappointed with that,” said coach Johnnie Harris.
The coach added that she is “overall happy for the win.”
Sania Wells was back and in the starting five for Auburn after missing the game versus Grambling State with a sprained ankle.
She made her presence felt with an early swipe that she layed in on the other end for a basket. The junior guard finished the contest with 11 points and one rebound and an assist.
The Tigers started hot, shooting 55.6% from the field in the first quarter.
Auburn made a living early off of turnovers. The Owls turned it over 13 times in the first half, leading to nine points for the Tigers.
The Tigers played suffocating defense in the opening half. Kennesaw State only put up 17 points and shot a poor 29% from the field, along with the turnovers.
The team cooled off shooting in the second quarter (25%), but still owned a quality shooting percentage of 41% midway through the game. This was enough to carry a 15-point advantage into halftime.
The Auburn squad wasn’t done after the first half. The team promptly went on a 15-4 scoring run in the opening five minutes of the half to make the score 47-21. Auburn had a 26-point lead and all the momentum. The game seemed to be decided.
However, the Owls found their wings in the fourth quarter, going on a 10-0 run to cut the Kennesaw State deficit to nine.
Right as it looked like Kennesaw State might mount a comeback, Jala Jordan answered with two consecutive and-ones and Annie Hughes splashed a three-pointer to secure the win for Auburn and make the crowd erupt.
Coach Harris said the biggest weakness of this team is their “inexperience and immaturity,” but acknowledges their growth.
“They’re growing up. They’re paying attention. They’ve watched film together as a team and they went through the scout together as a team, and those are things that they hadn’t been doing, but these last few ballgames they’ve been doing that. I think this team is starting to feel a little bit of success,” Harris said.
Hughes came off the bench and made a big impact in the game. She only scored six points, but she was a big asset for the offense with seven assists and a timely three with a minute left in the game to put it out of reach for Kennesaw State.
Auburn had three different players reach double figures in scoring. Aicha Coulibaly had a game-high 23, Jala Jordan came off the bench with 17 and Sania Wells had 11.
Wells thinks the biggest improvement is on the defensive side of the ball.
“Going from zone to straight man the whole game and I feel like our defense gives us energy on offense,” Wells said.
Coulibaly looked unstoppable all throughout the game. The guard amassed her second double-double of the year.
Coulibaly also added 11 rebounds and an assist.
When asked if she thinks she can be one of the better players in the SEC, Coulibaly said “I do,” but she acknowledged she has work to do to play in such a talent-filled conference.
Coulibaly added that it feels “amazing” to win games and taste success after a disappointing 2020-21 season.
This game wraps up non-conference play for the Tigers. Auburn heads into Southeastern Conference play on a tear. They are currently on a six-game win streak and have put up 70 or more points in five of those victories.
The Tigers will get a much needed 10-day breather before they start conference play. Several players, including Coulibaly and Hughes, were seen limping after hard falls late in the game.
“Yeah, we have practice tomorrow,” Coach Harris said jokingly to her players.
Coach Harris and the Auburn squad will look to keep the ball rolling when they face the No. 19 Kentucky Wildcats on December 30. It will be a tough test for Auburn to open up SEC competition this season.
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