AUBURN, Ala. – Auburn guard Robyn Benton was named the SEC Freshman of the Week for women's basketball, the league office announced Tuesday.
Benton hit the game-winning shot to finish off Auburn's thrilling, come-from-behind win at Vanderbilt Thursday night. With the Tigers trailing 70-69, Benton drove into the lane, drew contact and saw the ball hit the rim three times before falling through to give Auburn a 71-70 lead with 8.6 seconds left. After she made the free throw to make it 72-70, Vanderbilt missed a shot at the buzzer as the Tigers completed their comeback from 20 points down, believed to be the biggest comeback in Auburn history.
Benton scored eight points off the bench in the game, an SEC high for the freshman from Conyers, Ga. Five of her eight points came in the second half as the Tigers finished off the comeback; Auburn had trailed 49-29 with just under eight minutes to play in the third quarter.
This is the third weekly conference honor for an Auburn player this year. Janiah McKay earned Player of the Week honors on Dec. 23, and Brooke Moore was named Freshman of the Week on Dec. 31.
The Tigers are back in action Thursday night as No. 25 Texas A&M visits Auburn Arena. Game time is set for 7:30 p.m. CT with the broadcast on SEC Network for the annual We Back Pat game.