Auburn suffered a close loss to Mississippi State Thursday night in its return home from a quick trip to Nashville. In a competitive game, the Bulldogs came out victorious by a score of 70-65.
“Really disappointed that we didn’t come out and finish again,” said head coach Johnnie Harris. “I felt like my team played hard. We executed some plays, but we just didn’t finish.”
Auburn got out to a hot start against the Bulldogs. Despite the Bulldogs scoring the first basket of the game, Auburn forced three turnovers over the next three minutes and turned those turnovers into points – grabbing an early 11-2 lead.
The Bulldogs responded, however. After missing seven consecutive field goals, Mississippi State hit five straight shots while Auburn made none to take a three-point lead into the second quarter.
Aicha Coulibaly led Auburn with six points after the first period of play while Mississippi State’s Anastasia Hayes had six points of her own.
But as Coulibaly stepped up on offense, no one else could find a rhythm. At the halfway mark of the second quarter, Coulibaly had 11 of the teams 18 points and scored five of the teams’ eight field goals.
Auburn hunkered down on the defensive side of the ball and kept the game close before halftime hit. Mississippi State turned it over eight times in the first half – including a steal by Sania Wells that turned into a buzzer-beating layup to end the first half to bring Auburn within one.
The Bulldogs were on pace to score well under their usual 72 points per game.
Despite being at an extreme height disadvantage, Auburn was controlling the boards at halftime.
The Tigers were out-rebounding the Bulldogs 21-15 and had eight offensive rebounds – allowing them to pick up some crucial second chance points while the outside shot was not falling.
Without those second chance buckets, Mississippi State could have easily grown its lead to double digits. Harris in her latest press conferences had challenged her team to rebound with more toughness, and the memo seemed to have been received by her squad.
February 3, 2022; Auburn, Alabama; Players from opposing teams reach for a loose ball in a match between Auburn and Mississippi State in the Auburn Arena.
The third quarter began with both teams exchanging blows. The lead was traded back-and-forth as Coulibaly continued to run the Auburn offense.
Within six minutes of the quarter, the IMG Academy product had already shot the ball seven times in that quarter alone. The Bulldogs could not find a way to stop her, and she continued to shoot until they did.
Though the Mississippi State defense had no answers in the third quarter, the offense began to settle in. The Bulldogs were scorching hot offensively in the third quarter.
By connecting on eight of their 12 shots in the quarter – including four from beyond the 3-point line – Mississippi State took a 55-45 lead into the fourth quarter.
“They made some tough shots, but we made some mistakes,” Harris said. “We fouled them and put them on the free-throw line. We’re just putting our opponent on the line too much.”
As a team, Mississippi State shot 27 free throws and made 17 of them.
Just when the game appeared to slip away from Auburn, the Tigers got back in it. Over a four minute stretch the Bulldogs did not score a single field goal. Auburn took advantage of the cold shooting to bring the lead within two with 2:47 left to play.
It was evident that the clutch gene was going to be a factor at the end of the game, it was just a matter of who would have it. Thursday night, the Bulldogs had it.
After throwing away a double-digit lead, Mississippi State went on a 9-6 run to end the game, led by Hayes.
Hayes finished the game with 26 points, including 10 makes from the charity stripe.
Coulibaly accounted for 24 points while Honesty Scott-Grayson was the only other Tiger with double figures – scoring 12 points in the loss.
February 3, 2022; Auburn, Alabama; Honesty Scott-Grayson (23) tries a layup in a match between Auburn and Mississippi State in the Auburn Arena.
Auburn struggled from the free-throw line – cashing in on just 13 of its 27 free throws. Along with just two 3-pointers made, Auburn left some potential points on the court Thursday night.
“We need to get in the gym,” Harris said. “Our 20 hours a week is not enough. They're going to have to get in the gym and have to fix that.”
With the loss, Auburn fell to 9-12 on the season.
Next on the schedule for Auburn is a trip to Fayetteville, Arkansas, to play the 14-7 Arkansas Razorbacks. The game will be broadcast on SEC Network-plus on Feb. 10 at 7 p.m. CST.
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Jacob is a sophomore from Leeds, Alabama. This is his second year with The Auburn Plainsman.
Twitter: @JacobWaters_
