Feb. 8, 2009
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. - The No. 6 Auburn women's basketball team (23-1, 8-1 SEC) exploded for a 47-point first half en route to an 81-54 win over in-state rival Alabama (12-12, 0-9 SEC) Sunday at the Coleman Coliseum in Tuscaloosa, Ala.
The win is Auburn's seventh in a row over the Crimson Tide, breaking the record for the longest Auburn win streak against Alabama and tying the all-time longest win streak by either team. The previous Auburn record was six wins from Feb. 1, 1981-Feb. 9, 1983 while Alabama's seven in a row came from 1976-79.
Head coach Nell Fortner improved to 9-1 against Alabama and the Tigers extended the all-time series lead to 38-32. With the win, Fortner said it feels good, but it is just another win at this point in the season.
"This win really feels good, but, honestly, every win feels good," said Fortner. "It is another win for us that we will enjoy today, but we have five more games in our SEC season to look ahead to."
Three Tigers finished the game in double figures, led by SEC Preseason Player of the Year DeWanna Bonner's 18 points and nine rebounds. Senior point guard Whitney Boddie, the other half of Auburn's "Killer Bs" combo, finished with her team-best seventh double-double of the season, dishing out 12 assists along with her 12 points. More impressive, Boddie tallied the 12 assists while committing no turnovers in the game.
Rounding out Auburn's double-digit scorers was senior Sherell Hobbs with her 16 points, seven rebounds and game-high three steals.
"This was the most complete game we played all season," said Fortner. "We have had a little bit of a lull here lately and it was good to see us come out of it and right the ship."
In the first half, Auburn took an early lead but the Crimson Tide rallied back to tie the game at 11-11 with 15:00 minutes to go. From there, the Tigers out-scored Alabama 36-10 the rest of the half to take a 26-point, 47-21, lead into the locker room.
Jumping out to the early lead, Fortner said she was very happy with the way her team, especially her seniors, came out and took charge.
"It was all hustle and we were very aggressive from the get-go," said Fortner. "The seniors were extremely important to that, they have been together since their freshman year and lost to Alabama their freshman season, and have not forgotten that. They know each other so well, they are hungry and I like where we are heading right now."
AU shot 56.8 percent from the field in the opening half with Sherell Hobbs, Bonner and Boddie scoring 10 points each. Boddie finished the first half with a double-double as she also tallied 10 assists while Bonner led in rebounding with seven.
Auburn's 47 points in the first half was also the team's highest first-half point total since putting up 62 on Sam Houston State on Dec. 5, 2008. The first-half run was also a team effort as seven different Tigers scored in the opening period with nine of the 10 active players seeing action.
AU continued to roll in the second half, leading by as many as 34 points at the 68-34 mark. With the game sealed, Fortner played her bench heavy in the latter minutes of the game with all 10 Tigers playing at least 10 minutes against the Crimson Tide.
Bonner led Auburn's scoring attack in the second half with eight points, followed by six from Sherell Hobbs. Freshman Morgan Jennings came off the bench for five points in the half.
Varisia Raffington and Tierney Jenkins led Alabama with 13 points each in the game as Ericka Russell followed with 11. Jenkins also tallied a team-best seven rebounds while guard Dedrea Magee ran the offense with five assists.
For the game, Auburn out-rebounded Alabama, 51-29, giving the Tigers their largest rebound margin (22) since out-rebounding Sam Houston State by 28. The 27-point margin of victory was also the largest score margin since downing Coppin State by 28 on Dec. 21, 2008.
Auburn shot 48.5 percent from the field, knocking down 32-of-66 attempts. AU was also 16-of-24 from the free-throw line, shooting 66.7 percent. The Tigers stole the ball four times and tallied five blocks while committing only 12 turnovers.
The steals and defense contributed to 16 Alabama turnovers, compared to only 14 assists. The Crimson Tide also picked up three blocks and three steals. UA shot 34.4 percent from the field on 21-of-61 shooting. The Tide also knocked down 5-of-18 three-point attempts while shooting a paltry 58.3 percent, 7-of-12, from the charity stripe.
A pair of Tigers also hit career milestones in the game. Sherell Hobbs moved into the top 15 all-time at Auburn in career scoring as her 16 points moved her past Conswella Sparrow (1997-2000) for 15th all-time with 1,267 points.
Boddie moved into the top five in career assists as her 12 gave her 531 on her career, passing Martha Monk (1979-81) and Ruthie Bolton-Holifield (1985-89) for fourth all-time at Auburn.
Auburn returns to action at 6 p.m., Thursday as the Tigers take on Kentucky at the Beard-Eaves-Memorial Coliseum. The Wildcats lost to Vanderbilt, 72-62, on Sunday, dropping to 13-11 on the season and 3-6 in SEC play.