Wednesday afternoon the Tigers defeated Washington State 69-62 to extend the Tigers' win streak to seven, giving them an overall record of 10-2.
Auburn was coming off a win at home against Norfolk State while Washington State was coming off a win over Houston and a loss to rival Washington which marked the first time the Cougars have lost to their rival since 2019.
“They were different than any preseason team that we have been playing,” said head coach Johnnie Harris. “I wanted to challenge our team. I wanted to see where we were and what we needed to work on going into conference play. I thought this would be a really good test and it was.”
Offensively, graduate senior Honesty Scott-Grayson led the Tigers with 17 points, five rebounds and three steals. Graduate senior JaMya Mingo-Young trailed not far behind with 12 points and seven rebounds, followed by senior Taylen Collins with 10 points, six rebounds and three steals.
“We have got to get Honesty going early. […] I’m trying to impart on her that that’s what this team needs,” Harris said. “This team needs for you to go out and set the tone because she is that she’s a tone setter.”
Defensively, the Tigers forced 20 Washington State turnovers and just barely outrebounded the Cougars 32-31.
“Our thing for today was extreme intensity,” Harris said. “That’s what we’re going to have to have to be able to win this game. […] And I thought they did that, and we weren’t perfect, but I thought they played extremely hard. They were engaged in what they were doing […] and they played their hearts out.”
The Cougars opened up the scoring Wednesday afternoon with a three-point jumper on the wing to take the early lead. Sumbane responded with three-point jumper of own to tie. However, the Cougars took the lead and maintainec it for the remainder of the quarter, finishing the quarter with a seven-point lead.
The second quarter the Tigers fought back – forcing seven Cougar turnovers to eventually trail by just one possession. Auburn tied the visiting team with two minutes left in the half, but the Cougars pulled away to end the half with a 32-26 lead.
A layup from Scott-Grayson brought Auburn within two possessions of the Cougars to start the second half. A jumper from Collins and a three from Scott-Grayson gave the Tigers the lead with just three minutes into the quarter. After a back-and-forth battle, the Tigers came out with a 46-41 lead to end the third.
In the fourth quarter, Scott-Grayson, Mingo-Young and Mar'shaun Bostic extended the Tigers' lead to 10 points with three minutes left in the game. The Cougars fought back coming within four points, but the Tigers did not let up and took the 69-62 win.
“The thing about this team is that they take adjustments that we make at halftime, and they come out and execute it,” Harris said. “This team is a work in progress. We have all these new players and everybody’s trying to find their identity. This entire team is so unselfish, so I think a big part of that is once they understand what their role is, I think it will get better.”
Up next, Auburn will host North Alabama on Sunday, Dec. 31st. Tipoff is set for 2 pm CST, and the game will be televised on SEC Network+.
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Alexa Gardner is a junior at Auburn, majoring in exercise science. From Birmingham, Alabama, she started with The Plainsman in fall 2022.
Twitter: @alexagardner_
