MILAN, Italy – Junior Unique Thompson recorded her second double-double of the Tigers' trip to Italy, but the Auburn women's basketball team was unable to hold onto a halftime lead in an 81-75 loss to the European All-Stars Thursday night.
The Tigers came close to avenging a loss to the same squad Sunday night in Florence, but saw their opponent take full advantage of a pair of long Auburn scoring droughts in the second half to secure the come-from-behind win.
Thompson shared the team lead with 18 points and led all players with 15 rebounds on the night. Sophomore Brooke Moore also scored 18 points for the Tigers, and Robyn Benton added 12.
Auburn shot 35.5 percent for the game (27-76) and was 7-of-24 from 3-point range. The Tigers also shot 70 percent at the free-throw line, hitting 14-of-20 attempts. The All-Stars were at 44 percent for the game from the field and also made seven 3-pointers on the night.
The Tigers forced their opponent into 25 turnovers but were only able to convert those into 17 points. Meanwhile, the All-Stars scored 27 points off 20 Auburn turnovers.
After a slow start that saw the Tigers fall behind 10-0, Auburn cut the deficit to just two at 19-17 following one quarter. Auburn's defense came up big in the second, scoring 10 points off nine turnovers and crashing the offensive boards for eight second-chance points. The Tigers led by as many as 14 late in the quarter and took a 44-34 lead into the break.
But the All-Stars opened the third quarter on an 11-0 run to retake the lead at 45-44. The lead changed hands several times in the third and neither team led by more than four at any point in the final eight minutes of the period. Moore hit a 3-pointer at the buzzer to give the Tigers a 60-58 lead headed to the final quarter.
The Tigers, however, went cold for the first five minutes of the fourth as the Europeans opened the period on a 13-0 run to move ahead 71-60. Auburn got some late scores to cut the deficit to single digits in the closing minutes, but never got any closer than the final margin.
Gala Mestres, who plays professionally in Spain, led the Europeans with 16 points. Marta Miscenko, a professional player from Latvia, added 12, as did Paula Estebas, another Spanish professional.
Thompson and Moore each averaged 13.7 points in the three games in Italy to lead the Tigers; Thompson also pulled down 12.7 rebounds per game. Freshmen Lauren Hansen added 11.3 points per game for the trip; she scored eight points tonight while playing just 17 minutes due to early foul trouble. Senior Daisa Alexander, Auburn's leading returning scorer, did not play in any of the three games in Italy as she continues to recover from offseason surgery.
The final half of the Italy trip saw the Tigers visit the Leaning Tower of Pisa on Monday. Tuesday's journey from Florence to Milan included a stop in Parma, the home of parmesan cheese and authentic prosciutto. The team took a boat cruise around Lake Como to the village of Bellagio Wednesday, and concluded their tour Thursday with a visit to the Duomo of Milan – the world's third-largest church – and Thursday's game.
Auburn will return home Friday, returning to Atlanta from Milan via Amsterdam.
Season ticket renewals are underway for the 2019-20 season; the Tigers will play 13 games at home beginning Nov. 6 vs. Wofford.
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