Jan. 16, 2018
By Scott Scroggins
AuburnTigers.com
AUBURN, Ala. ÃÆ'Æ'¢ÃƒÆ'¢'¬" Auburn outscored Arkansas 41-27 in the second half and pulled within eight in the final minutes, but the Tigers were unable to overcome a 41-17 halftime deficit in a 68-58 loss to Arkansas at Auburn Arena Sunday afternoon. Arkansas led 16-11 after the first quarter but outscored Auburn 25-6 in the second quarter.
"We started slow again," Auburn head coach Terri Williams-Flournoy said. "We really have to stop starting slow. It's putting us in a hole. And one thing we knew for sure was that Arkansas was going to shoot the 3, and you can't give them their first 3 (on their) first possession of the game. We gave them (nine) 3s in the first half. We decided to get out there and guard in the second half. But, honestly, at that point, it was too late.
"I thought in the first half of the game we just weren't playing with much effort. We looked kind of lethargic out there moving slow. When we came back and picked up the energy we picked up the energy offensive-wise, defensive-wise. I think that really was the key. The hole was just too big. Even when they weren't hitting the 3, they were hitting the little mid-range shots and little shots in the paint."
Janiah McKay reaches career milestoneJunior Janiah McKay, who wears No. 33 for the Tigers, became the 33rd 1,000-point scorer at Auburn when she hit a jumper with 6:48 remaining in the third quarter. McKay, who is third in the SEC averaging 22.6 points per game in league play, led all scorers with 26 points on the day on 7-of-15 shooting and 12-of-14 from the free-throw line. It is her fourth 25-point game in five SEC games this season and her 16th game in double figures in 17 games this season.
McKay reached the 1,000-point milestone in her 82nd career game. She is the seventh player to reach the 1,000-point plateau in the Coach Flo era, joining Brandy Montgomery (1,644 career points), Tyrese Tanner (1,515), Tra'Cee Tanner (1,327), Katie Frerking (1,271), Blanche Alverson (1,244) and Hasina Muhammad (1,184).
Unique Thompson notches fifth double-double of freshman campaignDespite Arkansas packing the paint defensively, freshman Unique Thompson recorded her fifth double-double of the season with 14 points and 13 rebounds against the Razorbacks. Thompson scored 12 points and pulled down nine boards after halftime as Auburn mounted its comeback attempt.
"I think it just sped us up a little bit, and I don't know if it was really anything their defense did man-to-man-wise, it was the fact they just stayed in the paint," Williams-Flournoy said of Arkansas' defense. "Most of the time Unique Thompson had three defenders around her. And that last play where Jaz (Jones) cut to the middle and had a drive to the basket, we kept trying to get her to do that all game long because they just weren't guarding on that side of the floor."
Auburn forces season-low in turnovers and struggle on the boardsAuburn entered the game having forced at least 20 turnovers in all but one game this season, but only forced 12 turnovers against Arkansas and only turned those into 10 points, both season-lows for the Tigers.
"We knew No. 3 (Malica Monk), it was going to be hard to turn her over. She had the ball in her hand the majority of the time, and when we didn't trap her, she was speeding in between us, and then that created a lot of problems as well," Williams-Flournoy said.
Auburn also struggled on the glass as Arkansas out-rebounded the Tigers 39-33 and scored 22 second-chance points on 17 offensive rebounds. It was the most second-chance points and offensive rebounds Auburn has allowed this season.
"Rebounding is effort," Williams-Flournoy said. "Rebounding has nothing to do with size, and I thought Arkansas really wanted to go get the ball, and that's exactly what they did. They went and got the ball ... on the offensive rebounds."
Auburn travels to LSU Thursday for a 7 p.m. contest.