Jan. 13, 2011
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AUBURN - Blanche Alverson's career-high 27 points carried Auburn (10-7, 3-1 SEC) to its 10th win of the season as the Tigers defeated Ole Miss (8-7, 1-2 SEC), 85-73, Thursday night at the Auburn Arena. The sophomore shot 11-for-17 from the floor, including a career-high five 3-pointers.
"There is no question that Blanche had an awesome game," said head coach Nell Fortner. "She had some big hits tonight, and she put up some great numbers. It's so good to see. It opens up a lot of opportunities for other players to get some shots when she puts up baskets like that."
The Tigers started out slow in the opening half as Ole Miss capitalized off of eight Auburn turnovers , leading to 12 of the Rebels 33 first-half points. Down one with 3:18 to play, an Alverson jumper gave the Tigers momentum and Auburn outscored Ole Miss 6-2 in the remainder of the half to take a three-point lead going into the locker room.
After trailing by as many as seven points in the first half, the Tigers closed out the period on a 21-11 run.
Alverson's hot hand carried the Tigers through the first 20 minutes, as she went 7-for-11 from the floor with two 3-pointers and 16 total points.
Ole Miss would never lead again as Auburn opened the second half on a 13-3 run to take a 13-point lead less than four minutes into the half. The Tigers would go on to lead by as many as 15 points, but was never able to pull away as Ole Miss' Kayla Melson scored 21 of her game-high 29 points in the second half to keep the Rebels around.
Auburn shot 57.1 percent from the floor in the second half with the bench also getting an opportunity to play. Six Tigers came off the bench to play 55 total minutes, and all six scored, providing a combined 22 of Auburn's 85 points.
"I'm really pleased with the win," said Fortner. "I thought we knocked down some nice shots. Morgan Toles had a fantastic stat line tonight, so I was really pleased with that. Everything just kind of came together tonight and I am really happy with the results of the game."
Toles' eight assists marked the 10th time in 11 games that the sophomore contributed five or more assists. She also went 5-for-9 from the floor for 12 points and added five rebounds.
Behind Alverson was senior Jordan Greenleaf with 15 points. She also dished out three assists with four steals. Junior Parrisha Simmons led the Tigers in rebounding with a game-high seven.
With 11 different players scoring, Auburn was able to get its offense going in the win. The 85 points scored tied the team's season high and was also the most against an SEC opponent since the Tigers scored 94 against Arkansas on March 1, 2009.
"I'm very happy with the score," said Fortner. "That's a big number of points, and I think we can improve even more. Our players are getting more experienced and comfortable with everything so I know we can just keep improving on that."
Melson led Ole Miss with her 29 points and four assists while Shae Nelson came off the bench to shoot 7-of-9 from 3-point range for 21 points. Point guard Valencia McFarland dished out a game-high 10 assists in the loss.
Auburn will continue its two-game homestand at 2 p.m., Sunday against LSU (12-6, 2-2 SEC). The Bayou Bengals downed Mississippi State 72-55 on Thursday. The game will air live on CSS and will be the first televised women's basketball game at Auburn Arena.
Follow Auburn women's basketball on Twitter at twitter.com/AuburnWBB.