Scott-Grayson and Coulibaly lead Auburn to upset win over No. 21 Georgia

As the final buzzer sounded, the Auburn bench, as well as the 2,906 fans in attendance at Auburn Arena, erupted into cheers of joy. Finally, after suffering seven single-digit losses in conference play, Auburn had won a close one.

The Tigers (10-15, 2-12 SEC) held the No. 21 Georgia Lady Bulldogs (19-7, 7-7 SEC) scoreless over the final 7:16 and closed the game on a 14-2 run to turn a six-point deficit into a 65-60 win.

“I’m just very happy and proud of my team for how they came out and battled,” said Auburn head coach Johnnie Harris. “I challenged them today to play hard and play with heart and I thought they did that. We executed some stuff on the offensive and defensive ends and so I was really, really proud about that.”

Auburn’s fourth quarter dominance was the antithesis of the close-game struggles that have plagued the Tigers throughout the season.

“We played hard, we got stops, we boxed out and got rebounds, and we finished,” Harris said. “And we’ve been working on finishing, we’ve been working on it in practice and they finally carried that to a game. I think that’s the difference. Just finishing.”

Auburn was led by Honesty Scott-Grayson in the first half and Aicha Coulibaly in the second half. The duo combined for over 64% of the Tigers’ scoring output, totaling 42 points.

“When both of [Scott-Grayson and Coulibaly] can come in and get it going, it makes our team a lot better,” Harris said.

Scott-Grayson tied a season-high with 23 points, including 15 in the first half alone. Scott-Grayson also made an impact on defense, where she had five of Auburn’s 16 steals. 

Coulibaly only scored four in the first half after not playing in the second quarter due to foul trouble. When she returned to the court in the second half, however, she erupted for 15 en route to a 19-point performance.

Much like they did in their win over Tennessee, the Tigers forced turnovers to put themselves in a position to make a comeback. The Tigers had 16 steals in the game as Georgia turned the ball over 21 times, including seven times in the fourth quarter, leading to nine Auburn points.

“I thought we pressured the ball a little bit more,” Harris said. “I thought we helped a little bit more and we didn’t let them have easy, direct passes…I thought once we started pressuring a little bit more, the passes were not as crisp and we were able to get our hands on them…so that was the difference in the fourth quarter.”

Georgia becomes the third nationally ranked team to fall victim to an upset at the hands of the Tigers. Auburn previously knocked off No. 18 Georgia Tech and No. 4 Tennessee.

Harris hopes that, unlike the previous victories, this win carries over to the final week of the season and the SEC Tournament.

“We want to build on it, so we want to get a little better tomorrow,” Harris said. “The last time we had a big win like this, we didn’t build on it. I didn’t think it carried over, so we want this to carry over…so if we get a little bit better every day, continue to buy in, continue to execute the game plan, I feel good about it.”

Johnnie Harris hopes that this win will inspire confidence in her team, which has been competitive with many of its opponents, and was able to break through against the Lady Bulldogs. 

“This should tell them that we can play with anybody,” Harris said. “With the exception of South Carolina and a couple of quarters against LSU and Texas A&M, we’ve been in every ballgame, every quarter. The best is yet to come with this team if they just stick with it, keep working hard, work a little bit harder and keep playing hard.”

The Tigers will look to build off the momentum of this win when they host Ole Miss on Thursday, Feb. 24 for Senior Night. The game will tip-off from Auburn Arena at 6 p.m. CST and will be streamed on the SEC Network-Plus.