Auburn, in its fourth game in seven days, went down early in the game, and failed to stop the Commodores' hot hands in an 81-66 loss on Sunday.
The Tigers got into foul trouble early, and compounded their foul trouble with several turnovers in the first half. Vanderbilt took advantage, going 19-for-26 from the field in the first half. Vanderbilt went into the locker room with a 25-point lead.
"On the offensive end, we missed shots, then on the defensive end, we missed assignments," said Auburn head coach Johnnie Harris. "We had five total rebounds and zero offensive rebounds in the first half. That's a lack of effort, a lack of toughness. We were playing on our heels tonight."
The second half fared much better for Auburn, as the team played more aggressively on defense. The Tigers were able to force 27 turnovers in the game, and converted those into 23 points.
Despite a 21-point performance from sophomore Aicha Coulibaly, the deficit was too much for Auburn, losing by a 15-point margin, their biggest loss since Jan. 16., an 18-point loss to Texas A&M.
Coach Harris said that this result could have been predicted, but she thinks that will change with time.
"We played like we practiced," said Harris. "I kind of saw this coming. We don't have the kind of team that can't prepare, we have to prepare for games like this. I didn't think we prepared well. But that's the sign of an inexperienced team."
The Tigers will play Mississippi State next. That game will be in Auburn Arena, tip-off is set for Feb. 3., at 7 p.m. CST.
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Dylan Fox, Junior in Civil Site Design Engineering, joined The Plainsman as a sports writer in Spring 2020. From Geneva, IL.
