Entering the game with just an 8% chance of victory according to ESPN, Auburn knew it had a tough battle ahead when No. 4 Tennessee arrived at Auburn Arena.
“I told them I’m not scared,” Auburn head coach Johnnie Harris told the AU Sports Network postgame. “So let’s go out, have fun, lay it on the line and see where the chips lie.”
For Auburn, the chips seemed to fall in their favor on Thursday. The Tigers defeated No. 4 Tennessee 71-61, erasing a 23-game SEC losing streak while handing the Lady Volunteers their first conference loss of the season.
In the first quarter, the Lady Volunteers had some success forcing the ball inside and winning the board battle with their great size. Down 17-7, the Tigers had work to do and had been in this situation before.
“We weren't playing hard,” Harris said. “Once we put them in good situations, where they could attack, I felt like they were a little more comfortable on the offensive end.”
Auburn went on a 9-0 run to end the quarter, finishing the frame in a one-point deficit.
Despite the size disadvantage, Auburn was able to score 30 points in the paint on the night. Aicha Coulibaly led the scoring with 26 points, with many of those points in the paint. Despite being shorter than her opponents, she was able to use her physicality to fight for rebounds on both sides of the court.
The second quarter saw Auburn get hot, as the team scored 23 points at a 47% shooting percentage, nearly 12 percentage points better than the Lady Vols. The Tigers held a 39-28 lead going into the locker room at halftime.
It wasn’t smooth sailing for Auburn just yet, however. The Lady Vols retook the lead with a 13-2 run to start the second half, with Tennessee guard Jordan Horston scoring 10 of those points. Auburn was able to respond with a run of their own, leading by one going into the final frame.
In the fourth quarter, Coach Harris looked to her freshman guard Mar’shaun Bostic to halt the Lady Vols’ offense. Bostic responded to the high-pressure situation by lodging three steals and five points in transition in the final frame. She finished as the bench's only scorer, logging nine points in 15 minutes of play.
“When [Bostic] plays hard on the ball, everyone behind her plays hard,” Harris said. “And that’s really important.”
Like Bostic, the Auburn crowd responded too. As the game wore on, the cheers and high-fiving amongst the fans steadily grew. The arena only got louder as "Swag Surfin’" played, culminating in the student section rushing onto the court after the final buzzer sounded.
“We’ve never experienced anything like that, so it was really exciting,” said senior Annie Hughes of the court-storming. “Props to our fans. Props to everybody that came out and supported us tonight.”
Hughes finished with 10 points, one of four players to finish in double figures.
“I even had a fan that came up to me after the game and said, ‘I was laying in bed, then Jala hit a 3, and then I got out of the bed and came to the game,'” Hughes said.
Not only was this Auburn’s first conference win of the season, it was the first in the Johnnie Harris era. That wasn’t for a lack of trying, however, as the Tigers have fallen just a bucket or two short on several occasions, including an overtime loss at Mizzou. Harris hopes that this win puts all of the late losses behind them.
“We’ve been right there in so many ball games,” Harris said. “Once you experience what it feels like to break through and win that ballgame … you’ll really realize that it’s not insurmountable.”
This was the Tigers' first SEC win of the year, and their first win against a top-5 team since 1997.
Auburn won’t have much time to recover, as it heads to Nashville to play the Vanderbilt Commodores on Sunday. Tipoff is set for 2 p.m. CST.
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