 Terri Williams-Flournoy directed Auburn to its first win over Vanderbilt in 14 years (Anthony Hall photo) | ||||||||||||||||
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NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- After 14 years and 21 consecutive losses to Vanderbilt, Auburn's women's basketball team broke through Thursday night at Memorial Gymnasium.
With the game tied at 62-62, senior Tyrese Tanner's baseline jump shot gave the Tigers the lead for good with 24 seconds left as they beat No. 16 Vanderbilt 68-62.
Not since 2000, when Joe Ciampi was the head coach, had Auburn beaten Vanderbilt. Second-year Auburn coach Terri Williams-Flournoy got it done, avenging a 74-65 loss to the Commodores at Auburn Arena on Jan. 9.
"I was just thinking attack the basket," Tanner said. "I just went baseline and went up and it went in."
Williams-Flournoy saluted her players' effort. She said she told her players before the game that the losing streak to Vanderbilt was not on them.
"I told them we didn't want hear that," Williams-Flournoy said. "It was not us. We were 0-2 against Vandy. They came out and played hard and continued to fight the whole game. I thought we set the tone right away both offensively and defensively."
Peyton Davis and Kiani Parker each connected on two free throws to keep Vanderbilt at bay as Auburn won its third consecutive game and its first this season over a ranked team.
Vanderbilt rallied to lead 60-58 with 2:08 left after Auburn had bolted to an 8-0 lead and led 29-21 at halftime. Tra'Cee Tanner scored inside to tie the game at 60, and the Tigers did not trail again.
Tyrece Tanner led Auburn with 18 points. Peyton Davis scored 12 points and had eight rebounds off the bench. Freshman Brandy Montgomery scored 13 points. Parker scored just 2 points but had 11 assists. Christine Foggle scored 24 points for the Commodores, 23 in the second half. But she was alone in double figures.
Auburn improved to 14-10 overall and 5-6 in the SEC. Vanderbilt fell to 17-7 and 6-4.
The Tigers shot a blistering 64 percent from the field in the second half, hitting 16-of-25 from the field and finished at 51.8 percent, hitting 29-of-56. They scored 19 points off 16 turnovers to overcome being outrebounded 36-26. Despite the rebounding margin, they had eight second-chance points to Vanderbilt's 6. Vanderbilt shot 43.4 percent on 23-of-53 from the field.
Auburn returns home Sunday to play Missouri at 2 p.m. The 1988, 1989 and 1990 teams that reached the NCAA championship game will be honored.