Auburn (9-2) beat Norfolk State (7-4) 67-39 Saturday afternoon in Neville Arena, in large part due to their tenacious defense.
The Tigers defense was a nuisance for the Spartans all afternoon. They forced 27 turnovers, 13 of which were steals. Taylen Collins led the team with four steals in the game. Ja Mingo-Young and Mar'sha Bostic each added two steals of their own as well.
"We want to apply pressure, be in the passing lanes, and be as disruptive as we can on defense," Collins said.
Despite the Tigers strong defense, turnover struggles of their own allowed Norfolk State to keep the game close at halftime. Going into the half, Auburn only led 26-20. However, in the second half, Auburn's offense would break loose and go on a 20-0 run.
"I like how we came out in the second half and the resiliency of this team," Auburn head coach Johnnie Harris said. "They're playing hard and trusting us, so when we make adjustments, they're doing everything we ask them to do and getting better because of that."
Leading the way on the offensive end for Auburn was Ja Mingo-Young, who had 16 points on the day. Norfolk State could not help but foul her. She scored 12 of her 16 points at the free-throw line.
Mingo-Young would not be the only one who produced offensively, though. Taylen Collins added 10 points, and after a slow first half, Honesty Scott-Grayson would score 12 points in the second half.
"I challenged Honesty at halftime. I put her on their best player and she responded," Harris said. "That affected us on the defensive end as well. We got stops because of that and some run-outs as well."
The defense allowed the Tigers offense to take off. Nearly half of Auburn's points came off of turnovers, scoring 32 off the forced mistakes. The suffocating defense held Norfolk State to just 20 points in the first half and 19 in the second. They have allowed less than 40 points in back-to-back games.
Moving forward, Auburn will look to continue to defend at a high level while limiting turnovers of their own. Next up for the Tigers is Washington State on Wednesday at 2:00 inside Neville Arena.
The game will be available on ESPN+ and the Auburn Sports Network.
