March 6, 2009
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NORTH LITTLE ROCK, Ark. - Southeastern Conference Player of the Year DeWanna Bonner racked up 32 points Thursday to become the all-time leading scorer ever at Auburn with 2,084 points as she led the top-seeded Tigers (28-2) to a 71-65 win over No. 9 seed Ole Miss (17-14) in the quarterfinals of the SEC Tournament in North Little Rock, Ark., on Friday.
With the win, Auburn will advance to the semifinals for the first time since 1997 and will take on the winner of Friday night's game between Florida and Tennessee. Tipoff in the semifinal contest is set for 5:30 p.m., Saturday at the Alltel Arena.
It will be the first trip to the SEC semifinals for head coach Nell Fortner and the first for Auburn since 1997, the last time the Tigers won the SEC Tournament title.
"This is the first time that we've played in the semifinals of the SEC tournament since we've been at Auburn and I'm really proud of this team for having that opportunity," said Fortner. "I thought today's game was a tremendous show of great passion and heart from this team.
"There is no easy game in the SEC tournament, doesn't matter what day you play on, what game it is, there is no easy game. Doesn't matter what your seed is, there are always going to be close games."
Auburn led by as many as 18 points and were by 16 with 6:19 left to play, but a 17-4 Rebel run cut the advantage to three points with 79 seconds left to play. But, Bonner scored four of Auburn's last seven points to help the Tigers to the six-point, 71-65, win.
For Bonner, the win was especially special as she claimed the top spot in Auburn's all-time scoring list. The senior from Fairfield, Ala., needed 16 points entering the game to tie Becky Jackson's (1980-84) 2,068 career points and had 14 points by halftime.
It did not take long once the second half started as her running jump shot at the 16:44 mark tied Jackson's 2,068. On the very next Auburn possession, Bonner knocked down an 18-foot jumper right in front of the Auburn bench for her 2,070th career point and sole possession of the record.
"It's a tremendous honor, to be able to be up there with the top scorers, I'm excited, but I'm not focused on it," said Bonner. "I'm ready to play the next game and keep adding to those points."
Bonner also moved up the Auburn career rebound list as her 11 in the game moved her past Lori Monroe (1979-83) and her 1,015 career rebounds. She now has 1,019 career boards, 99 short of the school record of 1,118 also held by Becky Jackson.
The double-double was the eighth of the season, 39th of Bonner's career. Her 32 points were also a personal-best in the SEC Tournament and three shy of her career high of 35.
Also picking up a double-double in the game was Nancy Lieberman Award finalist Whitney Boddie with her 15 points and 10 assists. She also tallied three steals in the game. She now has a team-high nine double-doubles on the season and 12 on her career.
Three of Boddie's points came in the final 33 seconds of the game, first on a big jumper just outside the lane and the last a free throw with 12 second left to put Auburn up by six and out of reach of the Rebels.
Auburn led wire-to-wire in the game, first taking the lead on a Bonner 3-pointer less than a minute into the game. Auburn led by as many as 10 in the opening period, taking a six-point, 35-29, lead at halftime.
The Tigers opened the second half on an 11-0 run to build a 17-point lead that Ole Miss would never really recover from. The Rebels cut the lead to as few as three with 26 seconds left, but Auburn hits its free throws down the stretch for the victory.
Ole Miss was led by Shawk Goff with 25 points and 10 rebounds, followed by Bianca Thomas with her 12 points of 5-of-15 shooting.
Guarding Thomas, who erupted for a career-high 31 points against Arkansas in the first round of the tournament, was a priority for Auburn in the game.
"She's a player that can change a whole game in about two minutes, so you cannot let her get on track," said Fortner. "The shots that she hit, one shot in the first half and we made it a tough shot, at the free throw, but she had some clean looks in the second half, and we were just fortunate that she wasn't really `hot' today like she was yesterday.
"She is a tremendous shooter, tremendous shooter and it really makes a huge difference for their team. I thought our game plan was very good on her and I thought it was executed well by the team."
As a team, Auburn shot 45.8 percent from the field on 27-of-59 shooting while Ole Miss hit 40.9 percent on 27-of-66 shooting. Both teams struggled at the free throw line with Auburn knocking down 56.0 percent, followed by 50.0 percent from the Rebels.
Auburn out-rebounded Ole Miss, 38-37, led by Bonner's 13 boards. Both teams took care of the ball as Auburn finished with 11 turnovers with Ole Miss tallying 10.
The Tigers defeated both of their potential semifinal opponents in the regular season, playing both in the friendly confines of Beard-Eaves-Memorial Coliseum. Auburn beat Florida, 81-65, on Jan. 11, and followed with an 82-68 victory over the Lady Vols on Jan. 25.