Auburn women’s basketball won 128-36 against Virginia University-Lynchburg this evening, starting their season 2-0.
In the first quarter, Auburn came out of the gate with energy. The Tigers produced profusely on offense, recording 37 points and shooting 73.7% from the field. They also played competitive and aggressive defense, holding the Hornets to nine points and a 25% shooting percentage. Forward DeYona Gaston led Auburn in points in the first quarter with 13.
Auburn continued its production offensively in the second quarter, scoring 31 points to Virginia University-Lynchburg’s 11 points, the most points the Hornets scored in a quarter this game. The highest scorer for the Hornets was guard Aalyssa Rogers, who scored 15 of VUL’s 36 points. However, VUL struggled to produce throughout the game, shooting 37.2% from the field and giving up 41 turnovers.
After going into halftime leading 68-20, most spectators thought the Tigers would slow down in the second half and take it easy. However, Auburn continued to play hard and hustle. Despite already having a 48 point lead, Auburn still produced 31 points in the third quarter, shooting 56.5% from the field. Gaston spoke on the intensity the team brought despite being ahead decidedly.
“No, we’re not easing off, ever,” said Gaston. “If we’re supposed to beat a team by 80, we’ll beat them by 80 or 80+. There’s no mercy.’
In the middle of a timeout, Neville Arena announced that Gaston had reached her 1,000th career point. Not only did she reach this milestone, but her 36 points are a Neville Arena record and the most points scored in a game by an Auburn player since 1998. Despite her outstanding performance, Gaston was more excited by how the team played together and the energy in the arena.
“It was pretty fun. We did a lot of sharing the ball today,” said Gaston. “We try to pride ourselves on sharing the ball and making sure we’re there defensively as well. So it's pretty fun to share the ball and get the crowd going.”
In the fourth quarter, the Tigers focused on their defense, forcing 13 turnovers and scoring 20 points off of turnovers this quarter. In total, Auburn scored 65 points off of turnovers, while VUL only scored two points off of Auburn’s turnovers. Head coach Johnnie Harris spoke on her team’s defensive effort this evening.
“Our goal was 35 steals. We had a goal of doing it, but that's what we do. We're in the passing lane, and if they're turning it over and throwing it out of bounds, you're not gonna get the steal.” said Harris. ”I thought our team was locked in defensively, and that's what we wanted. Sometimes when they came to the huddle, that was the message to stay locked in. Don't swap it up. Stay locked in. Continue to do what you do. We still made some mistakes, and so we'll still have some good film to go and work off of and get better from. But for the most part, they played hard and they did what we asked them to do.”
The Tigers will be back in action in Neville Arena on Thursday, Nov. 14 at 7:00 pm CST. The game will be available to stream on ESPN app.
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Jackie is a freshman majoring in Drug and Biopharmaceutical Sciences. She started with The Plainsman in fall 2024.
You can follow her on X (Twitter) at @jackie_domingun
