Dec. 30, 2010
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AUBURN - Five players scored in double figures, led by a career-high 17 from Blanche Alverson, as the Auburn women's basketball team (7-6) cruised by with the 79-60 win over in-state rival Jacksonville State (4-9) Thursday night at Auburn Arena. Sophomore point guard Morgan Toles recorded the first double-double of her career in the win with 10 points and 10 assists.
The game was the final non-conference game for the Tigers. Auburn will begin Southeastern Conference play at 2 p.m., Sunday at Alabama.
After leading by just five points at the half, the Tigers came out on a 26-9 tear to start the second half and put the game away. Inside that start was a 14-0 Auburn run that included a pair of 3-pointers from Alverson.
"We came out and really attacked the zone in the second half and I thought that was the difference," said Auburn head coach Nell Fortner. "We did a good job, offensively, running some things that gave us great, uncontested looks at the basket. I was pleased with that. The intensity was there, came out ready to play we need to do that every game."
Alverson coupled her career-high 17 points with a career-high eight rebounds. She also tallied two blocks and a steal in the win.
Senior Jordan Greenleaf was right behind Alverson with 15 points and six rebounds. Alli Smalley and Tyrese Tanner scored 11 points each while Toles added her 10. Freshman Jassany Williams led Auburn in rebounding along with Alverson, pulling down a career-high eight with her seven points.
Toles' double-double marked the first points-assists double-double for an Auburn player since Whitney Boddie had 15 points and 10 assists vs. Ole Miss in the 2009 SEC Tournament.
"I thought that was one of the best games Morgan Toles has had this year," said Fortner. "When you get the double-double with points and assists - the last person to do that was Whitney Boddie. That is pretty good company when you are getting into Whitney Boddie territory.
"I'm really pleased to see Morgan's jump shot come back around. Her confidence on the floor was evident tonight. "
It was the second game in a row for Auburn to have five players score in double figures after the Tigers accomplished the feat against Alabama A&M on Tuesday. Prior to the Alabama A&M game, it had been nearly two years - 22 months - since an Auburn team had put five players in double figures.
The Tigers also used their defense to get the win, forcing 19 Gamecock turnovers and turning them into 24 points on the other end. It marked the sixth time this season for Auburn to score at least 20 points off turnovers. The Tigers also snagged 14 steals in the game, led by Smalley's four.
Auburn jumped out to a 10-point lead early in the second half, but saw it quickly evaporate as Jacksonville State rallied to tie it up at 20-20 with 8:18 left in the opening period. JSU briefly took a two-point lead at 22-20, but the Tigers out-scored the Gamecocks 14-7 the rest of the half to take a five-point lead into the locker room.
After a Brittany Wiley jumper cut Auburn's lead to six with 15:26 left in the game, Auburn responded with a 16-0 run that gave the Tigers a 22-point, 60-38, lead with 12:10 left. Auburn would go on to lead by as many as 25 points before pulling out the 19-point win.
The Tigers shot 60.6 percent from the field in the second half, the team's best shooting percentage in a half this season.
Wiley led JSU in scoring with 20 points, followed by Danielle Vaughn with 10. Vaughn also notched a double-double with 13 rebounds on the game.
Auburn shot 50.7 percent from the field and 77.8 percent from the free throw line. The Tigers held JSU to 38.5 percent from the field and won the rebounding battle, 38-35.
Auburn will return to action at 2 p.m., Sunday with its SEC-opener at rival Alabama (11-2) in Coleman Coliseum. It will be Auburn's first televised game of the season as it will air live on CSS.
Follow Auburn women's basketball on Twitter at twitter.com/AuburnWBB.