AUBURN, Ala. – More than 12,000 fans packed Beard-Eaves Memorial Coliseum on Jan. 25, 2009, to see the top 10 women's basketball matchup between Auburn and Tennessee.
Sixth-ranked Auburn beat defending national champion No. 10 Tennessee 82-68, the Tigers' first win over the Lady Vols in 12 years.
"Best experience of my life as an Auburn Tiger," said Whitney Boddie, then Auburn's senior point guard.
The sellout crowd smashed the previous Auburn women's basketball attendance record by nearly 5,000.
"I remember not being able to get parking," Boddie said. "It was our first real signature win. Everyone was trying to figure out if we were for real, so to speak. To have that arena, not just being sold out, but standing room only. All the pieces came together and the fans got a real show."
Boddie scored 17 points. DeWanna Bonner dropped 35. Auburn improved to 20-0 on its way to the SEC regular season championship and a 30-win season.
"That's a game that I can't forget," Boddie said. "I remember that like it was yesterday."
STAYING HOME
The foundation for Auburn's dream season began years earlier when Bonner, Boddie, Sherell Hobbs and Trevesha Jackson all decided to stay in state to play college basketball. Bonner, a McDonald's All-American, and Boddie connected at a basketball camp in high school before their sophomore season.
"We just formed a bond and a friendship," Boddie said. "We decided that we were going to go to the same school. Every school in the country was recruiting her, but I didn't have those same opportunities."
Three years later, Boddie was named Alabama's Miss Basketball at Florence High School.
"I won Miss Basketball but we all knew she was the best player, hands down," Boddie said.
New Auburn coach Nell Fortner aggressively recruited the in-state players who would form the foundation of the 2009 SEC champs.
"They gave me a phone call and the bond that we shared was great," Boddie said. "My job after that became trying to sell a player like DeWanna on staying at home. We all just witnessed some of the best players in the state go to other schools.
"When all of us bought in and we knew Auburn was the place and the way they gave us that vision on winning a championship and us being the centerpieces of it, it became a no-brainer. It was just amazing to see all of that come to fruition."
SEC LEGEND
Auburn's career leader with 603 assists, Boddie will be honored as part of the Southeastern Conference 2020 Class of Women's Legends during the SEC Tournament March 4-8 in Greenville, South Carolina.
"It's an honor. I didn't see it coming," she said. "It feels like yesterday that we were having that dream season in 2009. When I look back, it's been 11 years since I last wore an Auburn jersey. I can't even really wrap my brain around it. I'm just in shock."
Boddie started 80 games for Auburn from 2005-09, earning first-team All-SEC and honorable mention All-America honors as a senior.
"Vision. Sisterhood. We had a bond," Boddie said. "Coach Fortner and her staff, they just believed in us. Everything came together that year for us."
BEYOND BASKETBALL
Drafted by the WNBA's Sacramento Monarchs, Boddie played professionally in Poland, Turkey and Switzerland during her international basketball journey before she hung up her high-tops to teach physical education in Miami.
"I played overseas in eight countries," she said. "Two stints in the WNBA. I worked for the railroads. Did a lot of basketball training. I've been to a million countries. A little bit of everything."
Boddie's Auburn University sociology degree and experience as a student-athlete opened doors personally and professionally.
"It's still opening doors," she said. "Having a degree from Auburn University helps get my foot in the door. Then when they see the basketball background and see Nell Fortner, who is still my mentor, as a reference on my resume, that opens a lot of doors as well."
More than a decade has passed since Whitney Boddie and her teammates brought women's basketball glory back to the Plains, but the bond they formed remains firm.
"Amazing teammates, a sisterhood," she said. "We have a group chat now, we still keep in touch. The bond that we shared, it wasn't about what basketball could do for us. It was really about what kind of imprint we could leave on Auburn University within the game of basketball.
"We had amazing coaches who believed in us. We had tremendous support from our fans, from the administration, from our academic support. The type of success that we had couldn't have been done without everyone else around us. It's something that I appreciate. Auburn lives through me forever. It has a strong place in my heart. I'm glad to be the representative this year."
Jeff Shearer is a Senior Writer at AuburnTigers.com. Follow him on Twitter: @jeff_shearer