On Thursday night, the Auburn Tigers secured their second win of the season against the fast-paced South Alabama Jaguars, 72-61, without head coach Johnnie Harris and two key players.
Due to a flu outbreak within the program, associate head coach Damitria Buchanan was thrusted into Harris' position and came out with a win. Juniors Romi Levy and Precious Johnson also missed their second consecutive games with the illness, and freshman Mya Prather also missed the game.
"We really fought hard," Buchanan said. "Credit to South Alabama, they're a really good team. We had one day to prepare for them, then coming into today we had to deal with a little bit of adversity when it came to bodies and coaches. It wasn't easy, and I don't think it would have been easy if we had been full strength because they're a really good team."
Prior to tonight’s game, both Auburn and South Alabama had high-scoring season openers, putting up 90 and 89 points, respectively. Additionally, both teams had players with double-doubles from their previous game: Auburn’s Aicha Coulibaly with 24 points and 10 rebounds and South Alabama’s Kiana Anderson with 17 points and 11 rebounds.
Within the first four minutes, Auburn guard Coulibaly added to the missing player list after taking a hard hit and going into the locker room. Despite the scare, Coulibaly was able to return but was only able to score eight points before the half, in contrast to her 11 opening-half points in the last game.
After the half, however, she was able to resume normally, finishing with 19 points, but not without a second hit before the last buzzer. Coulibaly was able to shake hands, but she will be further evaluated following the game.
Freshman guard Kaitlyn Duhon came out strong, putting the Tigers on the board after drawing a foul within the first three minutes. By halftime, Duhon already reached double-digits, having 17 points. Moreover, she led the team in steals with three and added a pair of blocks, amplifying their defense.
Duhon went on to be named player of the game following her powerful offensive showing. She finished with 17 points and a field goal percentage of 63.6%. Coming from Houston, Texas, she now has 26 points through two games in her first pair of collegiate appearances.
To combat the Jaguars’ high-scoring, aggressive offense, Auburn focused defensively and recorded nine blocks and forced 20 turnovers. The Tigers capitalized on those opportunities, scoring 28 points off turnovers.
Though the Tigers led in those defensive categories, they were, once again, out-rebounded 47-41. This allowed the Jaguars to put up 18 second-chance points. Buchanan emphasized the importance of getting "two-handed" rebounds if they want to continue winning.
The Tigers also took advantage of South Alabama’s smaller defense. In its last game, it only had three blocks, allowing Auburn to get off 61 shots. Moreover, the Tigers out-blocked South Alabama 9-0, showing their size advantage.
"If our team’s not making the shots that we need to be able to make, then it’s not going to work, and our kids stepped-up," Buchanan said. "They were able to make some really big shots.”
Another highlight included Auburn keeping South Alabama off the free-throw line. In their last game, the Tigers gave up 43 free-throws to Sam Houston, but tonight, Auburn only allowed 21.
Last year, the Tigers stormed into Atlanta and took down a ranked Yellowjackets team, 59-51. Now, Georgia Tech will be looking for revenge on the Tigers in Neville Arena on Wednesday at 7 p.m. CST. The game will be available for streaming on SEC Network+.
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Amanda Davidson is a sophomore at Auburn, majoring in journalism and minoring in marketing and studio arts. From LaGrange, Ga., she started with The Plainsman in fall 2022.
Twitter: @Manny1Davidson
