ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – Sophomore Unique Thompson had 19 points and a career-high 19 rebounds as Auburn won a thriller at New Mexico Sunday afternoon, 79-76, to advance to the semifinals of the Preseason Women's NIT.
With 17 seconds to play and the score tied 76-all, junior Daisa Alexander hit a baseline jumper, got fouled, and made the free throw to give the Tigers (3-0) a three-point lead. New Mexico (1-1), who had hit 12 3-pointers in the game, had two looks at a tying trey in the final three seconds but missed both as the clock expired.
"We were actually looking to get the ball inside because the middle was wide open," Auburn head coach Terri Williams-Flournoy said of the game-winning play. "But they gave the whole baseline to Daisa, and she made a great read. And she needed that. She had been struggling a little bit offensively, and she needed that because she had played really well."
Auburn will travel from Albuquerque to Ames, Iowa, and face Iowa State at 6:30 p.m. CT Tuesday in the WNIT semifinals. The winner will face the winner of Miami and Marquette in the championship game next Sunday.
A crowd of 4,419 saw an incredibly entertaining ballgame at The Pit that featured 16 ties and 15 lead changes.
"We had to make stops, we had to score, the crowd was so loud," Williams-Flournoy said. "I'm screaming, I know they couldn't hear me at all. I told the team they had to start talking to each other on the floor because I know they couldn't hear me. But it's great to play in this kind of environment because in the SEC, you go to Tennessee, South Carolina… you're playing in loud environments. This was a great test for us to get ready."
Thompson's 19-point, 19-rebound effort marked her second double-double in three games and the ninth of her career. The 19 rebounds were the most by an Auburn player since Tra'Cee Tanner also had 19 at Florida Gulf Coast during the 2015-16 season.
"They did a very good job of crowding (Unique) inside," Williams-Flournoy said. "She probably only had four or five attempts in the first half. I told her, 'You've got to find a way to score. We need you to score.' I thought our guards did a very good job when they penetrated, dishing off and dumping it to her."
Auburn took advantage of early New Mexico fouls, hitting 8-of-12 free throws in the first quarter and 15-of-20 in the first half. Those points were sorely needed because the Tigers managed just 30.3 percent from the field in the opening half. Despite that, Auburn finished the second quarter on a 7-0 run – a 3-pointer from Emari Jones and four points from Janiah McKay – to take a 36-33 lead to the break.
The foul count went down and the shooting percentages went up in the second half as the Tigers shot 52.9 percent in the final 20 minutes. But every time Auburn would make a run, New Mexico would answer. The lead changed hands 10 different times during the second half alone – including the closing seconds of the third quarter. The Lobos took a 56-54 lead with five seconds to play on a pair of free throws, but freshman Erin Howard drained a buzzer-beating 3-pointer to give the Tigers a 57-56 lead through three periods.
Auburn then moved ahead by as many as five points with 4:40 to play, taking a 70-65 lead out of the final media timeout on a pair of Thompson free throws. But in a span of two New Mexico possessions, the Lobos were back ahead 71-70 on a pair of 3-pointers.
McKay hit a jumper to give the Tigers a 76-73 lead with exactly a minute to play, but the Lobos answered with their 12th 3-pointer of the game to knot the score at 76-76, setting up Alexander's game-winner.
McKay equaled Thompson's offensive output with 19 points along with five rebounds, six assists and three steals. Alexander finished with 14 points, four rebound and three steals, and Crystal Primm had a strong game with 10 points and six rebounds. Howard added a career-best eight points off the bench with her first two collegiate 3-pointers in the third quarter.
Auburn shot 41.2 percent for the game and was 19-of-25 (76%) at the free-throw line. The Tigers also out-rebounded the Lobos 45-39 and outscored New Mexico in the paint 40-24. New Mexico was 38.1 percent from the field but 32.4 percent (12-of-37) on 3-point attempts.
Jayla Everett led New Mexico with 25 points, hitting 7-of-10 3-pointers. Jaisa Nunn added 16 points.
Auburn wins WNIT quarterfinal thriller at New Mexico 79-76
