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Coach's Corner: On the Court with Fortner

By Daniel Chesser/ Staff Writer | November 19

Auburn Women's Basketball head coach Nell Fortner, in her sixth season as head coach, was named Southeastern Conference Coach of the Year and led her team to the SEC Championship last season with an overall record of 30-4 and 12-2 in the SEC."Winning the SEC Championship was something we worked hard on for many years and expected to achieve with all the seniors we had last year," Fortner said.

Cheerleaders Support Auburn On, Off the Field

By Brian Desarro/ Staff Writer | November 19

When the smoke starts to rise, they begin to get ready. The fans start screaming as the video plays, and they know it's almost time.

No. 1 Auburn Equestrian Topples to No. 2 Georgia, 12-8

By Mary-Glenn Smith/ Staff Writer | November 19

Auburn's Equestrian team was defeated 12-8 by SEC rival Georgia Friday in the final match of the fall season.Auburn traveled to Bishop, Ga., just outside of Athens, to the University of Georgia's equestrian center, for the meet.Auburn knew going into the meet that Georgia had only been beat once at its home equestrian center, so it was going to be a tough competition. "We knew we had to go big or go home," said sophomore Hunt Seat rider Maggie McAlary.Though they rode hard, the No.

Soccer Team Falls in First NCAA Round

By Nick Van Der Linden / ASSISTANT SPORTS EDITOR | November 19

The Auburn Tigers Women's Soccer team (10-9-3) reached its goal of making it to the NCAA Tournament, but its season came to an end Friday night with a 2-1 overtime loss to the University of California at Berkeley Golden Bears (11-8-1) at the Seminole Soccer Complex on Florida State University's campus."It was one of those heartbreaking losses," said head coach Karen Hoppa.

Battle of the Cats: Tigers Drop 1 to Wildcats, 3-1

By Crystal Cole / STAFF WRITER | November 19

After making a strong statement in the first set, Auburn's Volleyball team struggled to hold on and lost three sets in a row to fall to No.

Men's basketball kicks off season with win over Purple Eagles

By Emily Beckett/ Staff Writer | November 16

Fans stood with bated breath as Auburn Men's basketball edged out the Niagara Purple Eagles in a season-opening win during the final seconds of Friday night's game at Beard-Eaves Memorial Coliseum.Senior leader and guard DeWayne Reed lived up to his title as he completed a layup and free throw with 12.5 seconds left in the second half, securing a 69-65 win for the Tigers."I was just hungry, ready to win," Reed said. "I was ready to win the whole game."

Auburn volleyball falls to Gamecock's in second ever meet

By Mary-Glenn Smith/ Staff Writer | November 16

The Auburn Volleyball team was defeated by South Carolina in a 3-0 match at the Gamecock's home court."It is a disappointing loss for us and it's hard to win when only a couple of people are playing up to par," said head coach Wade Benson. "Not having everyone in the game really hurt us and this loss is going to hurt for a while."

Tigers return from Athens with 31-24 loss

By Patrick Dever / Assistant Sports Editor | November 15

ATHENS, Ga. -- Auburn football traveled to Athens Saturday to take on the Georgia Bulldogs in the latest chapter of The Deep South's Oldest Rivalry.The Bulldogs won the game 31-24."I am very proud of our team, this one is a tough one to handle," said Auburn head coach Gene Chizik.

Auburn Men's Basketball Wins Exhibition Against Miles College 87-40

By Andrew Sims / ONLINE EDITOR | November 12

Lebo's Lunatics looked as if they had been practicing during the off season as their added loony behavior helped push Auburn Men's Basketball to a large victory over Division II Miles College in a preseason matchup at Beard-Eaves Memorial Coliseum Friday.

Tigers Prepare to Take the Road and the Bulldogs

By Nick Van Der Linden / ASSISTANT SPORTS EDITOR | November 12

The Auburn Tigers (7-3) return to conference play to face their oldest rival the Georgia Bulldogs (5-4) Saturday.

Auburn Equestrian Wins on the Road

By Charley Gaines/ Staff Writer | November 12

Auburn's No. 1 Equestrian team traveled north for Nov. 7 and 8 meets and came home with wins.The women competed against Sacred Heart University in Bethany, Conn., Saturday."(The meet) was a little more disorganized than we're used to," said junior Western rider Jillian Fuller.

Auburn Earns 70th Homecoming Win

By Patrick Dever / Assistant Sports Editor | November 12

Auburn football won Homecoming 2009 over Furman University 63-31"It was a good team win," said head coach Gene Chizik.Auburn was led in the first half by senior quarterback Chris Todd."It was good to see him come out and fire on all cylinders," Chizik said.Todd was 17 of 18 passing, connecting on his first 14 pass attempts, for 256 yards and four touchdowns.Todd was quick to pass the credit along to his teammates on the offensive line and in the receiving corps."They stepped up and had a really great game today and we had some receivers do a really good job," Todd said.Senior running back Ben Tate, like most of the starters, only played the first half of the game.He was still able to gain 75 yards on 12 rush attempts."It was good, but I think I could have done some things better," Tate said.

Soccer is Ousted From SEC Tournament, But Looks Forward to NCAA Tourney

By Nick Van Der Linden / ASSISTANT SPORTS EDITOR | November 12

The Auburn Tigers Soccer team (10-8-3) ended its run in the Southeastern Conference Tournament Friday with a 1-0 loss against Louisiana State University (14-4-3) in the semifinals."LSU is a great team so we knew we had to compete at the highest level," said sophomore midfielder Katy Frierson.

Shootin' Hoops with Lebo

By Crystal Cole / STAFF WRITER | November 12

Auburn Men's Basketball head coach Jeff Lebo, in his fifth year as head coach, has helped record the second most wins in the team's history, by going 24-12 last season.The team made it to the third round of the NIT Tournament and lost to Baylor.More impressively, he led the team to win eight out of the last nine SEC regular season games.Eight of the Tigers' 11 wins in the conference were by double digits.He came to a team facing NCAA probation and many players left Auburn.It was a slow and steady struggle for Lebo and his Tigers, but the hard work is paying off.His father, Dave Lebo, is an assistant coach for the program.He said the biggest struggle for Jeff was taking small steps and doing things the right way."He had to make some decisions to get the right kind of players in here," Dave said.

Auburn Volleyball Falls Short to Florida

By Simpson Fletcher/ Staff Writer | November 12

Auburn Women's Volleyball (14-12, 6-9 SEC) fell to the No. 9 Florida Gators (20-3, 14-2 SEC) Sunday in three sets, 25-15, 25-18 and 25-14, in Gainesville.The big players of the day were sophomore outside hitter Kelly Fidero and freshman outside hitter Sarah Bullock.Fidero recorded nine kills and two service aces during the match while Bullock had eight kills and eight digs."I think one of the team's biggest strengths against Florida was our serving," Bullock said.

Women's Tennis Player Loses in Indoor First Round

By Helen Northcutt / INTRIGUE EDITOR | November 12

Auburn Women's Tennis player Fani Chifchieva, junior from Plovdiv, Bulgaria, competed in the ITA Indoor National Tournament Nov.

Dr. Ray Groover Named 2009 Walter Gilbert Award Recipient at Homecoming

By Emily Clever/ Staff Writer | November 12

Dr. Ray Groover received the 2009 Walter Gilbert Award at the Auburn Homecoming football game Saturday."It is extremely honorable," Ray said.Ray, who graduated from Auburn in 1961, still holds the records for the most free throws made (17) and attempted (21) in a basketball game."Dr. Ray Groover is a complete Auburn man," said Auburn Athletics Director Jay Jacobs in a release.

Women's Basketball Wins 73-50 over Georgia College and State University on Sunday

By Crystal Cole / STAFF WRITER | November 12

Auburn Women's basketball came away with an easy win Sunday, beating the Georgia College and State University Bobcats 73-50 in an exhibition game.Four Tigers scored in double digits, while sophomore guard Parrisha Simmons took a double-double with 14 points and 11 rebounds.Auburn scored first and the game remained relatively close until the Tigers scored 17 unanswered points and held GCSU without a goal for almost nine minutes.The first half ended with the Tigers up 40-18.Auburn was slow to start after halftime, only scoring one point in five and a half minutes.The team bounced back and finished strong, but was only 9-of-28 at the free-throw line.Head coach Nell Fortner said that statistic was a big concern."We are getting high percentage shots taken away from us and they are sending us to the line and we are not knocking them down and that's not good," Fortner said.