After defeating their in-state rivals earlier this year, the Auburn Tigers (16-9, 5-7 SEC) hoped to go 2-0 against the Alabama Crimson Tide (20-7, 7-5 SEC), but Alabama defended its home territory, defeating Auburn 67-61 on Sunday.
“We played hard, and that got us in the game and kept us in the game,” said head coach Johnnie Harris. “But undisciplined mistakes cost us. We’ve got to be better. I need to be better, and they need to be better."
Although the Tide took a three-point lead after the first quarter, the Tigers snagged the lead back when the buzzer sounded for the second quarter to commence.
The veteran Honesty Scott-Grayson opened the second with a jumper in the paint, making it 21-20, so here came Sydney Shaw who saw Auburn’s chance to steal the lead and shot two consecutive 3-pointers to make it 26-21.
Working alongside its offense, the Tigers’ defense held the Tide to four scoreless minutes. During the second quarter, Auburn added seven defensive rebounds and four steals to the stat sheet.
The Tigers kept the lead over the Tide into halftime and through the third, but Alabama changed the tide in an impressive fourth quarter. The Tide’s offense added 25 points to the board, while their aggresive, pressing defense kept the Tigers to nine points in the quarter.
“When we did break the press, when we got in our press attack and broke the press, we came down and took bad shots,” Harris said. “We didn’t flip the floor, we took bad shots, and then ultimately they went on a run.”
Auburn shot 45% from the field over the game while shooting 58% in the first half – its best shooting percentage this season – compared to its 33% in the second.
Scott-Grayson led the Tigers in points for the 11th time this season, scoring 15 points and shooting 6-for-19 (32%) from the field. JaMya Mingo-Young also had a good night on the court against her former team, scoring 14 points and going 6-for-13 (46%) on field goals.
On the defensive end, Taylen Collins led the Tigers with seven rebounds – two offensive and five defensive. Yakiya Milton added two steals, while five other Auburn players contributed one steal each.
Auburn continues on the road to Baton Rouge, Louisiana, on Thursday, Feb. 22. The Tigers matchup against the No. 13 Bayou Bengals will be broadcast on the SEC Network 8 p.m. CST.
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Caitlyn Griffin is a sophomore from Huntsville, Alabama, majoring in journalism. She started with The Plainsman in fall 2022.
Twitter: @caitlyngrif99
