Auburn, AL– After the Senior Night celebrations concluded it was straight to business for the Tigers (18-10, 7-8). Auburn, who was on the most unstable of bubbles, hosted the Mississippi State Bulldogs (20-10, 7-8) who came into this one a highly touted projected nine seed for the big dance. Auburn came out firing and took down the Bulldogs to give a huge boost to their resume heading into the final game of the regular season.
“I think it started out an emotional day… our seniors are just so special they mean so much to us” Head Coach Jonnie Harris said “I just wanted our team to come out and give me everything they had for our seniors”
Auburn came out firing from deep early as Honesty Scott-Grayson does what she does best, score. Her 32-point performance was fueled by incredible shooting from the field as she made 12 of her 23 attempts and was 40% percent from beyond the arc. She never slowed down in this one, starting hot with two threes in the first quarter and not looking back.
“This is a player that loves Auburn” Coach Harris said “this is a player that had the chance to transfer or go pro but she chose to stay here”
Auburn’s fast pace and ability to capitalize on opponent mistakes once again proved to be a key to victory as this team's trademarked fast and tough play led to their lead in fast break points, points off turnovers, and bench points. The Tiger’s ability to get out in transition and keep a positive assist-to-turnover ratio will be crucial in March when it comes time to string together wins against highly ranked opponents.
Auburn had nine players in double-digit minutes and their ability to keep fresh legs in the game and not fall off in quality of play is why they are able to pull off these upsets no matter what five players are on the floor. The Tigers put up nearly identical point totals in all four quarters, an ability that not only many teams do not have but also many teams struggle to keep pace with come late in games when their starting five are all in the 25-plus minute range.
“You know they’ve been in the system and now they can show the new ones what to do” Coach harris said “Honesty knows what we expect so they can kind of lead the way”
Jamya Mingo-Young led the Tigers in both assists and rebounds in her 30 plus minutes of work. She posted five assists and eight rebounds to put her stamp on the upset win for the Tigers.
Jessik Carter led the Bulldogs with 16 points as they were not going away in this one. The victory was hard-earned for the Tigers as Jekai Jordan led the game in rebounds with nine as she finished one short of a double-double with her 12 points. The Bulldog’s performance was far from lackluster in this one as they shot 33 percent from the field. They outrebounded Auburn and despite not having a lead at any point in this game they were not going away and for most of the game were within striking distance.
The Tigers are back in action as they visit Gainesville for the regular season finale. They will tip off at Florida at 11 am central time and the game will be streamed on the SEC network in conjunction with the Auburn Sports Network.
