Honesty Scott-Grayson had her fourth 20-point game of the season today against the Volunteers inside Thompson Boiling Arena but it wasn’t enough to overcome the deficit in an 83-76 loss to Tennessee.
It was a close game throughout that saw the Lady Vols go on multiple runs to extend their leads, in addition to a second half for Tennessee that saw them stroke it from deep — too much for Auburn to subdue. Auburn head coach Johnnie Harris liked the effort but saw areas where the Tigers were losing their battles.
“I thought our kids came out and battled,” Harris said. “They fought. We got into some early foul trouble, we had some freshmen on the floor, and we had some unforced turnovers. Just some bad turnovers that cost us in the second quarter.”
Along with Scott-Grayson having her best outing in SEC play this year — scoring 23 points and sharing the team lead with five rebounds — Aicha Coulibaly added 15 points, and Sania Wells and Romi Levy scored 10 apiece. Starting at point guard this game, Wells totaled a season-high six assists.
Shooting 64% to open the game, Auburn led after the first quarter 24-20. But the Tigers, plagued with foul trouble to several starters, were unable to put the ball in the bucket the first four minutes of the second quarter, only having four points with three minutes left in the first half. The Lady Vols were able to move ahead by as many as nine points. The free throw line was Auburn’s friend as they cut the lead to 34-29 at the half.
A Kaitlyn Duhon layup gave the Tigers a 51-50 lead with 4:09 to play in the third, punctuating an 11-2 run giving Auburn some confidence heading into a Tennessee timeout. However, following the break, senior Rickea Jackson of the Lady Vols decided to take matters into her own hands, adding six consecutive points to push Tennessee back in front. Auburn responded by cutting a seven-point Vols led to two with a layup and 3-pointer from Coulibaly.
It was 60-56 Tennessee after three.
The teams fought back and forth throughout the fourth, but when it was needed, Tennessee was able to get stops that left the Tigers were unable to catch up.
Having shot 56% for the game as well as 67% for the second half, it was a solid performance by the Lady Vols. Tennessee also took advantage of the free throw line, knocking down 22-of-32 compared to Auburn’s 14-of-19. The Tigers didn’t shoot as well but put up a respectable 44% from the field, knocking down six 3-pointers, their best production in SEC play.
Rickea Jackson led all Tennessee scorers with 27 points, 21 of which came in the second half. Jordan Horston totaled 19, while Tess Darby added 17.
The Tigers' final road game of the 2022-23 regular season comes Thursday night when they head on to Athens, Ga., to compete against the Georgia Bulldogs. Game time is set for 6 p.m. CST at Stegeman Coliseum.
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William Halliday started with The Plainsman in fall 2022. He is a journalism major from Memphis, Tennessee.
Twitter: @wphalliday3
