March 25, 2007
MANHATTAN, Kan. - Ashley Sweat scored 21 points to help lead Kansas State past Auburn, 67-54, in the Women's NIT quarterfinal Sunday afternoon in Manhattan. Sweat scored 11 of her 21 points in a first half that saw Auburn fall behind by as many as 19 points. M
"They came out and took the wind out of our sails," Auburn head coach Nell Fortner said. "We had some momentum coming into the game, but we couldn't get much production early."
Auburn made only two of its first 10 shots to open the game and fell behind 14-4. The Tigers stayed close, trailing by 13 with less than nine minutes to play in the first half, but Kansas State closed the period on a 14-8 run to lead 37-18. Auburn shot only 25.9 percent from the field in the half, compared to 48.3 percent from the Wildcats.
Auburn didn't quit and battled back to make the game interesting. With less than 10 minutes to play, Auburn reeled off a 14-0 run to pull within 11 at 53-44. The Tigers would soon close the lead to nine, but never came any closer.
"If we had opened the game as well as we played during that stretch in the second half, it would have been a different story," Fortner said. "The team showed a lot of pride in coming back like that."
KeKe Carrier led Auburn with 11 points on 5-of-6 shooting. DeWanna Bonner netted nine points and grabbed five rebounds, which made her the leading sophomore rebounder in school history.
The loss eliminates Auburn from the tournament and will conclude the 2006-07 season. Auburn has one senior on the team and will return all five starters for the 2007-08 campaign.