South Carolina traveled to Neville Arena to take on Auburn Thursday night where the Tigers fell 83-48.
From the initial start, the roar in the arena was louder than it has been all season. Students filled the stands, and a good amount of South Carolina fans made the journey.
South Carolina got off to a four-point lead, but the Tigers kept their defense tight. Anytime that they were able to get a rebound and bring it to their end, they found Honesty Scott-Grayson to lead the offense.
Sydney Shaw led the Tigers with 15 points and Romi Levy led Auburn in rebounds with six. This tied Shaw’s career high in points.
At the end of the first quarter the Tigers trailed South Carolina 19-7.
Sania Wells led the Tigers on a five-point run during the second quarter. Right after these points were scored, the defense was able to hold South Carolina to a shot-clock violation.
However, Auburn was behind by 21 points at the half. Shaw led Auburn in points for the first half with six points.
The third and fourth quarters remained the same as the first half of the game. South Carolina kept running up the score as Auburn’s defense had no answer for the Gamecocks' explosive offense. Auburn did end up getting back-to-back steals in the third quarter allowing it to slightly close the growing score gap.
A positive for the Tigers was the team's three-point shooting. While they did not take as many as South Carolina did, they made the exact same amount — increasing their overall percentage.
"I do think we’ve grown up since the first time we played them. We grew a lot,” said head coach Johnnie Harris.
Defense was the focus of this game for Auburn. It was the plan from the beginning.
“We wanted to try and make them score out and wanted them to move the ball. And they did, and we would defend for 20 seconds and then less, five seconds, and they would score on a broken play,” Harris said.
Shaw was happy that she was able to compete and help the team, but she viewed a win as more important over her own personal stats.
“I think a confidence builder probably would have been winning this game,” Shaw said. “I think that’s what I’m most concerned about right now”.
Coach Harris told the team before the game that she wanted to see them battle. She wanted her girls to be in this game even as a young team to see where they can improve.
“It’s a learning lesson. We'll learn. We’ll have to put it aside. We have a very good Alabama team that we have to play on Saturday," Harris said.
The Tigers travel to Tuscaloosa, Ala., on Saturday to take on rival Alabama at 4 p.m. CST. The game will be broadcasted on SEC Network.
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Lily has been with The Plainsman for three years and started out as a Sports Writer before becoming the Operations Editor. She graduates in May of 2024 and is from Washington, D.C.
