Jan. 30, 2011
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AUBURN - Auburn sophomore Morgan Toles scored a career-high 21 points as the Auburn women's basketball team (13-8, 6-2 SEC) claimed a 54-47 win over the South Carolina Gamecocks (12-10, 4-5) Sunday afternoon at the Auburn Arena.
Senior Alli Smalley added 11 points while sophomore Blanche Alverson pulled down a career-high nine rebounds along with seven points.
"I'm just happy to get the win," said Auburn head coach Nell Fortner. "It wasn't a pretty ballgame, I never felt like we got into much of an offensive flow. I'll give South Carolina some credit, they shut down some shooters and really got on us tough, but I can't complain about the win - it just needs to be a little prettier than that."
Auburn led from the start and did not trail until South Carolina took a 42-41 lead on an Iesia Walker 3-pointer. The teams would exchange the lead twice more before Toles hit a pair of free throws with 5:30 left in the game to tie it up, 47-47.
Toles scored all nine of Auburn's points in the last 5:30, taking the Tigers from down two to up seven for the 54-47 win.
Both teams struggled to find any points early in the game with Auburn and South Carolina shooting a combined 0-for-10 in the opening 3:26. It was Toles at the 16:34 mark who unlocked the stalemate, draining a jumper after a Gamecock turnover. Smalley then followed suit, dropping in a layup after another forced South Carolina turnover.
The Tigers built a small lead and held it for the bulk of the first half, leading by as many as eight points. South Carolina would cut the lead to three on three occasions, but Auburn was able to pull back away each time.
Toles came up big for the Tigers right before halftime, taking the ball the length of the floor for a layup. She was also able to draw a foul on Markeshia Grant and converted the three-point play to put the Tigers up by seven, 26-19, at the half.
"Anytime we needed a big basket, Morgan Toles came through with a big shot," said Smalley. "Before the half, it was huge because that put us up by seven going into halftime and that is always good to have that momentum and extending the lead."
Auburn would go on to lead by as many as 11 points with 14:25 left in the game, but a 12-1 Gamecock run tied the game up at 39-39 with 9:56 left. USC's Ashley Bruner scored six of the points in the run while Courtney Newton added four.
South Carolina's first lead of the game came a little more than a minute later on Walker's trey, 42-41. The Gamecocks would only score three more times before Toles took over to lead the Tigers to the win.
Auburn shot 36.2 percent from the field and was 10-of-17 from the line and 2-of-7 from outside the arc. Toles' 7-of-8 outing at the free throw line marked career highs for the sophomore in both makes and attempts.
Bruner came off the bench to lead the Gamecocks with 15 points and eight rebounds. Walker scored 12 points with six rebounds while La'Keisha Sutton dished out a game-high four assists.
Auburn held the Gamecocks to just 32.2 percent from the field. South Carolina finished 4-of-15 from beyond the arc and 5-of-13 from the free throw line. The Tigers also forced 18 USC turnovers, led by four steals from Smalley. Auburn went on to score 17 points off turnovers in the game.
The Tigers return to action Thursday against the Kentucky Wildcats (17-4, 6-2) at Memorial Gymnasium in Lexington, Ky. The Wildcats defeated Alabama 82-69 Sunday in Tuscaloosa.
Follow Auburn women's basketball on Twitter at twitter.com/AuburnWBB.