Moments after surpassing her career-high 31 points and leading her team to a 77-60 over Mississippi State, Auburn guard Honesty Scott-Grayson was still taking in the night.
“This is it, but we’re still not done,” Scott-Grayson said. “I wasn’t really thinking about how many points I had. I just knew that we had to get this win. I was just doing whatever I could and taking whatever shot I had available.”
Scott-Grayson finished her night with 32 points, four 3-pointers, two rebounds and two assists.
Just under three minutes into the contest, Scott-Grayson made her first bucket of the night, sinking a second-chance 3-pointer on an opponent turnover. A few minutes later Scott-Grayson sank another 3-pointer to give Auburn a 10-4 lead over Mississippi State, making her first two attempts of the matchup and going 4-for-10 from beyond the arc on the night.
Even with Scott-Grayson’s impressive offensive performance, other Tigers contributed to the team’s successful offense scheme against the Bulldogs,
The Tigers went 32-for-74 (43.2%) from the field and 8-for-21 (38.1%) from three, marking a season-high made three-point shots in conference play. JaMya Mingo-Young, Sydney Shaw and McKenna Eddings rounded out Auburn’s three-point shooting alongside Scott-Grayson.
Auburn scored 30 points in the paint, 15 fast break points and 25 points off turnovers. Its bench added 23 points to Auburn’s dominant offensive performance.
Eddings, following Scott-Grayson, finished the night with 13 points, five rebounds, one assist and one 3-pointer. Her 13 points marked the most scored by the guard in conference play this season.
“McKenna is always in the gym. She is a really good shooter,” said Auburn head coach Johnnie Harris. “It is fitting that this came for her, and I thought she played within herself. She played within the system.”
Taylen Collins and Kaitlyn Duhon followed Eddings with six points apiece.
Auburn got off to a quick start in the first quarter, outscoring the Bulldogs 19-12, holding them to 30% shooting from the field and outrebounding them 13-8. The Tigers extended their lead in the second quarter, leading 37-28 at the half and capitalizing on seven turnovers from Mississippi State.
Mississippi State closed in on Auburn’s lead in the third quarter and early into the final quarter, largely due to fouls by the Tigers. In the second half, Auburn committed 11 fouls – compared to nine from the Bulldogs – leading to 14 points from the charity stripe for Mississippi State and four for Auburn.
A made free throw from Mississippi State center Jessika Carter brought the Bulldogs within eight points of the Tigers’ lead with 6:27 left on the clock, but Auburn responded and outscored the Bulldogs 24-16, leaving Mississippi State scoreless from the field for the final quarter’s last six minutes.
“I just wanted our team to come and give everything they have for the seniors, and I think they did that with them,” Harris said. “But I think the seniors set the tone, and we set the tone defensively, which we wanted to do… It means a lot.”
Looking to improve to 8-8 in the SEC and impress before Selection Sunday, the Tigers travel to face the Florida Gators on Sunday, March 3. Tipoff is at 11 a.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.
