Sunday afternoon the Auburn Tigers traveled to Birmingham, Alabama, to take on the UAB Blazers, coming home with a 72-62 win to bring the Tigers' record to 6-2.
The Tigers trailed at the end of the first quarter, but after that, it was smooth sailing for Johnnie Harris and her squad.
“We played hard and imposed our will early,” Harris said. “They came back, hit some 3s. We turned the ball over, then had a hard time guarding their point guards. They were getting in the paint, throwing their bodies into us and drawing the foul, and then they kicked it out late in the ballgame and hit a couple of 3s."
Graduate senior Honesty Scott-Grayson put up a season-high 22 points to lead the Tigers. Shooting 9-of-16 from the field and 3-of-4 from the free throw line, Scott-Grayson hit double figures for the sixth time this season.
“Honesty was just special today,” Harris said. “She was a tone-setter. I was trying to keep the ball in her hands. She got a little tired because she was guarding their quickest player. She was doing it not only on the offensive end but on defense too. I thought Honesty did a really good job on (UAB’s point guard).”
Junior Mar’Shaun Bostic also put up double figures tonight with 12 points for the game. She also had four steals, four rebounds and two assists. Senior Taylen Collins was not far behind with eight points and a team-best eight rebounds, three assists and two blocks.
Sophomore Sydney Shaw also added eight points and four rebounds of her own followed by sophomore Kaitlyn Duhon with six points and six rebounds.
Auburn shot 46.7% compared to UAB’s 29.5%. The home team also scored 16 second-chance points off 15 offensive rebounds, however, was outrebounded by Auburn 44-36 for the game.
The Tigers scored 20 points off 17 Blazer turnovers while also maintaining control of the paint, 38-20.
Scott-Grayson came in hot scoring six of the Tigers' first eight points, giving Auburn the early lead in the first quarter. However, UAB would finish the quarter with an 11-4 run to take a one-point lead.
From there, it was all the Tigers. Auburn, not backing down, opened the second quarter with an 8-0 run to take a 20-13 lead. The Blazers only scored once in the first seven minutes of the quarter, giving the Tigers the lead at halftime, 35-21.
After an even third quarter, Auburn maintained a lead of 51-37 heading into the fourth. The home team nailed four shots from behind the three-point arc to keep the Tigers from pulling away, but the Tigers' well-timed stops and late free throws ultimately gave them the advantage to take the win, securing their second road win of the season.
Up next, the Tigers will be back on the road next Sunday, Dec. 10, at Little Rock. Tipoff is set for 2 p.m. CST.
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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_
