Jan. 11, 2009
Box Score | Quotes | Notes | Photo Gallery 
AUBURN - The ninth-ranked Auburn women's basketball team (17-0, 2-0 SEC) continued its unbeaten streak with an 81-65 win over the No. 18 Florida Gators (15-2, 1-1 SEC) in front of an energized crowd Sunday afternoon at Beard-Eaves-Memorial Coliseum. The Tigers are 2-0 in SEC play for the first time since the 1995-96 season.
"I am very excited about the win," said Auburn coach Nell Fortner. "It was a big win. Every win that you get in this league is special because they are hard to come by. I am very pleased with how we played today in terms of how they listened to the scouting report."
Senior DeWanna Bonner put up her fifth double-double of the season and 36th of her career, leading all Tigers with 29 points and 11 rebounds. Senior Whitney Boddie registered her fourth double-double of the season with 14 points and 11 assists.
Senior Sherell Hobbs added 23 points of her own, shooting 10-of-12 from the field and a perfect three-of-three from beyond the arc. Hobbs led the team with 15 points at halftime on 7-of-7 shooting from the floor.
"I couldn't miss at first," said Hobbs. "I just tried to focus on making my shots because we needed them. The last couple of games I hadn't been shooting the ball well. I got some shots in and that helped me tonight."
The crowd of 6,090 was the seventh-largest in Auburn women's basketball history and the largest since 6,614 saw Auburn host Tennessee on Jan. 27, 2002.
"The atmosphere was phenomenal - exactly what we always want," said Fortner. "The crowd was in it from the tip-off. We heard them the whole game. They gave us tremendous energy in the second half. I thought it was very instrumental. You always want to have that with the added advantage with playing at home."
Auburn took the lead four minutes into the game and opened up a 10-point lead midway through the half. The Tigers found early success in fast-tempo transition, dropping passes behind Florida defenders for quick lay-ups.
"That was just part of our plan," said Bonner. "We knew they didn't really get back and transition to defense well, so when someone got a rebound I just ran and Whitney made some great passes. We work on that all the time in practice actually."
Although Florida shot only 37 percent from the field, strong offensive rebounding and eventual success from outside the arc kept them close as the first half came to an end. The Gators connected on four of their last six first half three point attempts after starting out just one-for-seven.
The Tigers, who were an impressive 62 percent from the field in the first, kept the hot hand and connected on 13-of-26 second half field goal attempts. Key blocks from junior KeKe Carrier, a 13-2 run midway through the period and a hyped crowd provided Auburn the momentum it needed to come out with the victory.
Carrier finished the game with seven blocks, moving her into fifth all-time at Auburn for career blocks with 132.
"I saw a good performance coming for her," commented Fortner on Carrier's performance. "I knew it was going to happen at some point and we were hoping that it would happen as the SEC season started. I thought she came out and played like a warrior today."
Auburn finished 56 percent from the floor and an even 50 percent from three-point range. Florida shot 35 percent from the field and was 10-of-26 from beyond the arc for 39 percent.
The Gators were led by senior Marshae Dotson with 13-points and eight rebounds while leading scorer Sha Brooks was held to just 11 total points.
"They were absolutely ready for us," said Florida head coach Amanda Butler. "They took advantage of the great crowd that was present and I think it was a great environment for them as a basketball team. They just played a fantastic ball game."
Auburn returns to action on the road Jan. 18 against Arkansas (11-6, 0-2 SEC) in Fayetteville, Ark., at the Bud Walton Arena. The Razorbacks lost at Kentucky, 72-63, on Sunday.