Tonight Auburn’s women’s basketball team defeated SIU 65-31, beginning their season with a victory.
The first quarter was relatively quiet for both teams. Auburn shot 20% from the field, making 4-of-20 shots. SIU also didn’t shoot well, shooting 15.4% from the field and making 2-of-13 total shots. In particular, both teams struggled from beyond the arc, with only one made three-pointer in the entire first quarter. The Tigers also had miscommunications offensively, resulting in four turnovers in this quarter, which allowed SIU to stay close.
In the second quarter, Auburn’s offense began to produce prolifically. The Tigers made 8-of-15 shots and went 66.7% for three-pointers. They also locked down the defensive end of the court, with SIU recording nine turnovers in the second quarter, and the Tigers scoring five points off of turnovers.
Guard Mar’shaun Bostic Drives the ball past a defender in Neville Arena on Nov. 4th 2024.
A likely factor in Auburn’s explosiveness was an injury to SIU’s Jeniah Thompson, who left the game halfway through the second quarter due to a shoulder injury after a hard collision. Thompson played 12 minutes and had five rebounds, and her absence allowed for Auburn’s near domination of the paint for the rest of the game.
Auburn continued to control both ends of the court in the third quarter. Auburn shot 36.8% from the field compared to SIU’s 18.2%. DeYona Gaston shone offensively this quarter, tallying eight points, four rebounds, and one block. Gaston ended the night with 14 points, leading the Auburn offense. Gaston played four seasons for Texas and transferred to Auburn for graduate school this year. Gaston spoke about her first game as an Auburn Tiger and her thoughts on switching teams.
“I had fun, man. We had fun out there,” said Gaston. “Yeah, it's, it's, it's pretty cool to, you know, being a good environment, that everybody's for each other. So it felt pretty good.”
Another standout from Auburn this evening was redshirt sophomore Audia Young. Last season, Audia averaged 1.4 points per game, playing 3.6 minutes per game. Tonight, Audia had 11 points, four steals, and shot 3-for-4 from beyond the arc in 18 minutes on the court. What made Audia’s performance tonight even more special was that her mom, a former Auburn All-American, was an honorary letter holder this evening, and was there to watch Audia play in 21, her old number. Audia spoke about her shooting performance tonight and how it felt.
Taylen Collins (#14) and Jordan Hunter (#2) pressure an opponent in the paint in Neville Arena on Nov. 4th 2024.
“It felt great. Honestly, I had confidence,” said Audia. “I've been working on it a lot, especially in the off-season. So I had the green light, and I scored.”
The Tigers finished the game out strong in the fourth quarter, outscoring SIU 19-16. The Tigers fought hard defensively, forcing six turnovers in this quarter out of a total 29 forced turnovers. Head coach Johnnie Harris spoke on the defensive effort in tonight’s game and how she hopes it persists throughout the season.
“We wanted to come out and set the tone, and I thought we absolutely did that on the defensive end, you know, giving up seven points in a quarter and then eight points in the next quarter. I thought our defense was pretty solid,” said Harris.
Auburn will face the University of Virginia-Lynchburg on Friday, Nov. 8 at 6 p.m. CST. The game will be available to watch on the 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
