The Auburn Tigers (1-0) started the season strong after a thrilling overtime victory over the Charlotte 49ers (0-1), 71-58, on opening night.
“We have some resilient players on our basketball team, and they did an excellent job of being confident,” said head coach Larry Vickers. “For the most part, we stayed together for 40 minutes. This is our first time playing together, this is their first time getting adjusted to me. We knew we were going to make mistakes. And how we played through the mistakes was important. I felt like we did that, especially in that second quarter. We could have easily fallen apart.”
Auburn struggled shooting the ball, but its defense stepped up to the situation and forced 27 turnovers, resulting in 22 points. Seven of those turnovers came during the overtime period and led to nine points. The Tigers were also aggressive on the boards, collecting 42 rebounds, including 18 on the offensive end.
Freshman Harrissoum Coulibaly’s performance was particularly impressive, as she co-led the team in scoring with 19 points alongside junior Ja’Mia Harris. Nine of Coulibaly’s points came during the overtime period off the bench. She also contributed heavily to the Tigers’ defensive effort, recording a team-high five steals. Harris added three steals and eight rebounds, one short of her career high.
The Tigers started quickly on a 9-0 run, forcing Charlotte to take an early timeout with 6:27 remaining in the first quarter. The timeout paid off, however, as the 49ers responded and closed the gap to 13-8 Auburn after one. Charlotte carried that momentum into the second, ripping off a 13-1 run in the first six minutes and building an eight-point lead with 2:43 left in the half. Contributing to a strong night at the line for the Tigers — who went 25 of 31 — Harris and junior Kaitlyn Duhon each converted an and-one to bring the score to 25-24 with less than a minute left, but Charlotte answered with a pair of free throws to take a 27-24 lead into halftime.
Auburn came out of the locker room strong, ripping off another 9-0 run — mirroring its burst in the first quarter — to retake a four-point lead over the 49ers. The fourth quarter wasn’t a strong showing for either team, as each managed just one field goal in the first six minutes. With less than a minute remaining, a pair of free throws from Charlotte tied the game and sent it to overtime. In the extra period, the Tigers came out with a vengeance, scoring 14 unanswered points to take a 69-55 lead with under a minute left. Charlotte added three points to avoid an overtime shutout, but it wasn’t enough to close the gap, sealing the Tigers’ victory.
The Auburn Tigers will host their home opener on Saturday, Nov. 8, at 1 p.m. CST against Alabama State.
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Braden is a freshman majoring in Aviation Management. He started with the Plainsman in fall 2025.
