Nov. 24, 2013
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CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. - Playing a team with the second-longest home winning streak in the country, the Auburn women's basketball team dropped to 3-2 on the season Sunday with an 80-52 loss at Tennessee-Chattanooga (4-1). Turnovers and defensive lapses sealed the fate for the Tigers.
Sophomore Tra'Cee Tanner came off the bench to lead the Tigers with 14 points and eight rebounds. Junior Kiani Parker added 10 points while freshman Allina Starr tallied team highs with five assists and two steals.
"We played about as bad as we could have played," said Auburn head coach Terri Williams-Flournoy. "We didn't play defense and then we came down offensively and turned the ball over. We had 22 turnovers against a team that did not even press us."
The Tigers were in the hole from the start, going down 14-0 in the opening minutes of the game. But, Auburn rallied back and cut the UT-Chattanooga lead to three with less than six minutes to play.
The Lady Mocs had another run in them, though, and pulled back away for a 35-24 lead at the break. Auburn's freshmen and sophomores had 18 of the 24 first-half points.
UT-Chattanooga came out determined in the second half to not let Auburn back in the game and did just that. The Lady Mocs led by as many as 29 points in the final period to polish off the 80-52 win.
Meghan Downes led UTC with 17 points while Ashlen Dewart and Alex Black scored 13 each. Taylor Hall had seven points, eight rebounds and five steals.
Auburn's youth fueled the team, as freshmen and sophomores accounted for 32 of the Tigers' 52 points. Senior Tyrese Tanner had eight points and five rebounds while freshmen Brandy Montgomery and Katie Frerking added eight and seven points each, respectively.
Auburn will return to action this week as the team travels to Las Vegas, Nev., for the South Point Thanksgiving Shootout at the South Point Hotel and Casino. The Tigers will take on Ball State at 2 p.m. CT, Friday, and No. 22/16 Iowa State at 9:30 p.m. CT, Saturday.