AUBURN, Ala. - Monday night’s clash between Auburn(14-6, 3-4) and Georgia(10-10, 1-6) featured two teams that have struggled thus far in SEC play. Auburn though struggling still is listed in the first four out meaning they are playing important basketball the rest of the way and Monday was a great showing of that as their transition offense and shooting came to life.
The Tigers started fast jumping out to an early 7-0 lead. The offense started on the defensive end of the floor as fast breaks and forced turnovers lit up the Bulldogs early.
Auburn forced 23 turnovers leading to 17 points off turnovers, beyond valuable for the Tigers who rely on such energy and fast-paced play to win games.
“We score better in transition,” Auburn head coach Johnnie Harris said after the win “that’s always gonna be our bread and butter”
The Tigers scored 20 fastbreak points allowing them to play with a body advantage on the offensive end when they could get stops on defense or grab rebounds on the defensive glass. Often it was Mar’Shaun Bostic who was pushing the ball up the floor for the Tigers with aggressive play.
“We want to be in the passing lane,” Harris said “My key to the game for them was to get them on their heels and I thought we did that … we made it difficult for them to get the ball where they wanted to go”
Mar’Shaun Bostic was the biggest spark plug on defense totaling five steals; she also added four points and four assists to her statline to take her spot as the floor general for the Tigers.
Typically an interior attack the Tigers saw some deep action in the game, especially with Honesty Scott-Grayson who ended the first half on a run of her own with a 12-point 2nd quarter hitting three from beyond the arc in the second quarter. She led the team in scoring with an impressive 21 points on 35 percent shooting.
The Tigers added to this aggressive style of play with 36 paint points thanks in part to Taylen Collins who, herself had 13 points and played an aggressive tough game in the paint that set the tone for the Tigers.
“We knew that that was the look because the middle of that zone is wide open…I was just really pleased with her being as aggressive as she was,” Collins said.
The Tigers are back in action Thursday Night when the prolific number one team in the country South Carolina Gamecocks come to town for a 7:00 pm tip-off streaming on SECN+ in conjunction with the Auburn sports network.
