Jan. 16, 2011
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AUBURN - Jordan Greenleaf scored a team-high 12 points with nine rebounds as the Auburn women's basketball team (11-7, 4-1 SEC) won for the seventh time in the last eight games with a 65-53 win over LSU Sunday at Auburn Arena.
The victory maintained Auburn's third-place standing in the Southeastern Conference, trailing only No. 5/6 Tennessee (17-2, 5-0 SEC) and Georgia (14-3, 4-0 SEC).
"Our confidence is good right now. The schedule was very hard in the beginning and we had some losses that were tough on us," said Auburn head coach Nell Fortner. "They've done a great job at learning lessons from the losses, and the leadership has really stepped up and helped this team get back on track."
Greenleaf led a group of three Auburn players to score in double digits, followed by sophomore Morgan Toles and senior Alli Smalley scoring 11 and 10, respectively. Auburn led LSU by as many as 22 points with just under three minutes remaining after Fortner pulled the last of the Tiger starters.
The Tigers used their defense to pressure the Bayou Bengals, tallying 10 steals and five blocked shots while forcing 20 LSU turnovers. Auburn turned the turnovers into 11 points on the other end of the floor.
"I was really pleased with the win. I thought that was some of the best defense we've seen all year," said Fortner. "The focus and the attention to the game plan was very good today. We seem to be getting better and better every game and we are maturing into a pretty good defensive team."
The game opened as a back-and-forth battle with six lead changes in the opening nine minutes of play. However, an Alli Smalley jumper at the 11:19, mark followed by a quick Smalley steal kicked off a 16-4, Auburn run.
Smalley bookended the Auburn scoring spree with 3:42 remaining in the first half, catching a fast-break pass from Toles for a layup that moved her into 10th on Auburn's all-time scoring list. The Arab, Ala., native finished the game with 10 career points, giving her 1,419 on her career.
Auburn took a 32-21 lead into the half after a strong defensive showing that included eight steals, four blocks and 14 LSU turnovers.
The Tigers opened the second half with the same intensity as Alverson drained a 3-pointer right out of the gate. Before the day was over, Alverson would score nine points along with a career-high four steals.
Auburn would go on to lead by as many as 22 points in the second half, prompting Fortner to pull her starters with a 60-40 lead and 3:37 left in the game. The lineup of freshmen Peyton Davis, Camille Glymph, Courtney Strain and Jassany Williams, along with sophomore Pascale West, closed out the game for the Tigers. All 13 Tigers saw action in the game with 10 scoring points.
LSU finished the game on a 13-4 run, but it was too late as Auburn was able to hold on for the 66-53 win.
"Auburn has a nice facility and the played like they are proud of it," said LSU head coach Van Chancellor. "Nell Fortner did a great job coaching. She was 10,000 times a better coach then I was today.
"Auburn played good. They came out with fire and played hard. They did so many good things and you have to give them credit for that. They won the game. LSU did not lose the game. Auburn came out with a lot of fire and a lot of everything."
Auburn shot 45.0 percent from the field and 25.0 percent from 3-point range, knocking down 2-of-8 attempts. The Tigers held LSU to just 36.5 percent shooting on the day, including a 23.1 percent mark from beyond the arc.
Auburn will return to action at 7 p.m., Thursday as the Tigers hit the road to face Mississippi State (8-8, 0-4 SEC) at Humphrey Coliseum in Starkville, Miss. MSU lost at Kentucky, 72-60, on Sunday.
Follow Auburn women's basketball on Twitter at twitter.com/AuburnWBB.