Auburn opened its SEC Tournament run with a 67-48 win over Arkansas, advancing to the tournament quarterfinals for the first time since 2019.
“It feels good to finally get one,” said head coach Johnnie Harris. “This team has worked really hard. It started with those players that came back that believed in us, believed in our vision, believed in our style of play. Then the nine that didn’t play for us last year, they came in and knew how we wanted to play. They believed in the game, in the vision. They went to work.”
The win extended Auburn’s win streak to four games, its longest over SEC opponents since 2015, and solidified the Tigers’ first 20-win season since 2019. It snapped Auburn’s seven-game losing streak to Arkansas, reversing the recent trend of close games and heartbreak against the Razorbacks. Auburn’s previous three games against Arkansas, all losses, were decided by a combined seven points.
"Just really proud of my team for how hard they played in the second half," Harris said. "We had a meeting at halftime. I didn't think they were playing very hard … following our game plan. I thought they came out in the second half and played a lot harder, played Auburn women's basketball."
Despite only six points from Honesty Scott-Grayson, her second-worst scoring output of the season, the Tigers pulled away in the second half for the victory. JaMya Mingo-Young, Mar’shaun Bostic and Sydney Shaw each scored 11 points, leading Auburn to its first SEC Tournament win since 2020.
"(We were) playing well as a team, playing hard," Mingo-Young said. "(Coach Harris) got onto us at halftime. The second half we needed to focus more on the defensive so we could get out and run in transition and do what we do best to score the ball."
Mingo-Young had a particularly balanced game. In addition to her 11 points, the guard contributed eight rebounds and dished out eight assists in the game. Bostic was efficient shooting the ball, making four of her five shots and going 3-of-5 at the foul line. Shaw converted three 3-pointers to lead the Tigers.
Bostic led an Auburn bench that contributed 31 points in the game, with the starters scoring 36. Also coming from the bench, Kaitlyn Duhon scored nine and McKenna Eddings scored seven. The bench of the Tigers outscored the Razorbacks’ bench 31-3.
Auburn had to overcome Arkansas’ hot start in the first quarter, as the Razorbacks scored the first seven points of the game. Over the first quarter’s final seven minutes, Auburn went on a 12-4 run, taking its first lead with 37 seconds remaining in the first quarter and exiting the first 10 minutes with a 14-13 advantage.
After the teams went back and forth for the first five minutes of the second quarter, Auburn used another late run in the quarter to create some separation. After Arkansas took a 22-21 lead with 5:15 remaining until halftime, the Tigers went on a 12-2 run to establish a nine-point lead.
An Arkansas buzzer-beating 3-pointer reduced the Tigers’ lead to 33-27 at the half. Auburn, however, never looked back from the momentum established during this run.
The second half was all Auburn. The Tigers outscored their opponent 34-21 after the break, pulling away for a convincing win. Auburn shot 46.8% from the field in the game with a second-half shooting percentage of 53.8%. Over the game’s final 25:15, Auburn outscored Arkansas 46-26.
The Tigers made five of their 12 3-pointers in the game, but made the 3-pointer less of a priority in the second half, attempting just four and making two after halftime. Instead, the Tigers focused on attacking the paint, scoring 22 of their 38 points in the paint after the half.
The Tigers’ lead never shrunk below six in the second half, with Arkansas never getting within eight points during the fourth quarter. Though Arkansas had just 16 turnovers – Auburn came into the game forcing just under 21 turnovers per game – the Tigers turned defense into offense, scoring 19 points off of turnovers. The Tigers were also successful in transition, outscoring Arkansas on the fast break 14-0.
Though Auburn committed 12 turnovers of its own, the Tigers limited the Razorbacks to just seven points off of turnovers. The Tigers turned the ball over twice in each of the first two quarters before eight turnovers in the third quarter. In the final 10 minutes, however, Auburn’s ball control improved and the Tigers did not commit a turnover in the fourth quarter.
The Tigers’ defense stifled the Razorbacks, holding Arkansas to just 17-of-53 shooting, with the Razorbacks making just five shots in the second half. The Tigers’ defense was especially stifling around the basket, with Arkansas going just 7-of-23 on layup attempts. The Tigers, meanwhile, made 17 of their 26 layup attempts.
“Really proud of them holding a team like Arkansas to 48 points, it’s not easy," Harris said.
Auburn’s opponent in the quarterfinals will be the No. 2 seed LSU. The two Tiger teams split their two regular-season meetings, with each team winning by five points on its home floor. Tipoff for the game is set for 5 p.m. CST on Friday with television coverage on the SEC Network.
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Matthew is a senior from Huntsville, Alabama, majoring in journalism. He started with The Plainsman in fall 2021.
Twitter: @mattwallaceAU
