Auburn women’s basketball defeated Alabama A&M 68-45 on Sunday, snapping a two-game losing streak and improving the Tigers' record to 4-2.
The Tigers dominated early, quickly getting on the board with a made jumper from Sydney Shaw after Auburn won the tipoff. Within the next five minutes of play, Auburn took a 10-6 lead over Alabama A&M, making five of its first seven shot attempts.
“I thought we came out and played hard,” said Auburn head coach Johnnie Harris. “We set the tone defensively in that first quarter. And that’s what we wanted to do. We wanted to get some scores and get some stops.”
In the first quarter, Auburn scored 21 points, going 9-for-11 from the field, while only allowing nine points from Alabama A&M which shot 2-for-11 from inside the paint. Defensively, the Tigers grabbed six steals and eight rebounds in the first quarter while the Bulldogs turned the ball over 10 times.
“Coach (Harris) has been pressing us about getting up and starting the game off strong,” said forward Taylen Collins. “We really tried to pride ourselves this game on doing that.”
Sydney Shaw led the Tigers in scoring with 15 points, followed by Collins with 10 points. Collins picked up her first double-double as a Tiger, with 10 points and 10 rebounds, and Shaw went 3-for-6 from beyond the arc, making three of Auburn’s five 3-pointers.
“(Shaw) stepped up, and she has been stepping up,” Harris said. “She works hard in practice every day, and so it’s good to see her being rewarded for her efforts in practice.”
Auburn controlled the rest of the first half, shooting 36.4% from inside the paint while grabbing two blocks, 10 steals, and 22 rebounds. The Tiger defense held Alabama A&M to 23.1% from the field in the first half and 28.6% in the second half with the Bulldogs turning the ball over 23 times throughout the contest.
The Tigers continued to dominate in the second half, leading 56-34 at the end of the third quarter. The third quarter saw back-to-back 3s for Shaw, Auburn’s game-leading scorer, and propelled the Tigers into a fourth quarter that ended with a 2:11 scoring drought from Alabama A&M.
The Tigers will be back in Neville Arena on Thursday, Nov. 30 to face the Clemson Tigers in the ACC/SEC Challenge. Tipoff is at 8 p.m. CST and will be televised on SEC Network.
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Grace Heim is a junior from Enterprise, Alabama, majoring in English Literature. She started with The Plainsman in January 2023.
