Jan. 14, 2010
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AUBURN - Auburn junior Alli Smalley scored a career-high 27 points to lead the Tigers (11-6, 2-2 SEC) to a 74-62 win over Alabama (8-9, 0-4 SEC) Thursday night at Beard-Eaves-Memorial Coliseum. Senior KeKe Carrier added 20 points and a team-high nine rebounds while redshirt junior Jordan Greenleaf surpassed the 500-rebound plateau, finishing the contest with eight and 502 on her career.
"We are definitely happy with the win," said Auburn head coach Nell Fortner. "We came out and played very focused and very hard. We kind of had a lull, did some things that were out of the ordinary and it kind of got us out of rhythm. I don't think we played our best basketball tonight. We started out really well and I think that made a big difference in how the game went along."
The Tigers came out quick, connecting on 11 of their opening 15 attempts from the field. With 16:38 on the clock, Smalley and Carrier single-handedly outscored the Tide 14-2, posting seven points apiece. A five-point flurry from Smalley capped the run at 12:35, giving the Tigers a, 25-9, lead, forcing an Alabama 30-second timeout. Smalley scored 16 points by the 10-minute mark of the first half.
"I think the road win at LSU really propelled us into this game," said Smalley. "Everyone was hitting on all cylinders and offensively, from the one to the five, everybody was scoring."
Auburn opened the game to a 21-point lead with just over five minutes left in the half, courtesy of a Nicole Thomas jumper. However, the Crimson Tide clawed their way back to within 13 as the Tigers took a 43-30 lead into the half.
Both sides came out flat in the second period, connecting on a combined 4-of-18 from the field. The Tigers finally found a spark at 13:07 mark as Smalley connected from outside the arc, giving Auburn a 50-36 lead.
Alabama was able to break Auburn's double-digit lead with eight minutes left in the game, but a quick nine-point run would return the lead to 18 as the Tigers held on for the 14-point win. Carrier contributed six points in the run, highlighted by back-to-back layups courtesy of Alabama turnovers.
Auburn built its lead to 68-50 and never allowed the Tide under 12 for the remainder of the contest.
The Tigers shot 51 percent from the field and 44 percent from outside the arc. Alabama was 38 percent from the field, 18 percent from the field and 81 percent from the stripe. Celiscia Farmer led the Tide with 18 points while Ericka Russel pulled down eight boards.
"I thought Auburn got off to a great start and we didn't play as well as we needed to early," said Alabama head coach Wendell Hudson. "We got down by 20 points, but got it down to eight in the second half. I thought we played awfully hard."
Smalley started the game ranked 20th at Auburn in career scoring with 949 points. Her 27 points moved her into 27th with 976, surpassing Whitney Boddie, Charlene Thomas and Laticia Morris.
Smalley was one of three Tigers to finish in double figures in the win, followed by Carrier's 20 and 12 points from freshman Blanche Alverson.
Auburn returns to action Sunday for an SEC game at South Carolina. Tipoff is slated for 2 p.m. CT from Colonial Life Arena. The Gamecocks downed Kentucky 79-71 on Thursday to improve to 9-7 (2-2 SEC).