AUBURN, Ala. – Auburn got a career record-tying double-double from Unique Thompson, a school-record night at the free-throw line from Daisa Alexander, and took the No. 9 team in the country to overtime, but ultimately came up short in a 92-85 loss to Mississippi State Thursday night at Auburn Arena.
The Tigers led for most of regulation, lost the lead late, and had the ball with a chance to win the game with 30 seconds left in the fourth quarter. But a 10-second backcourt violation by Auburn and a missed shot by MSU at the buzzer set the game to an extra period. In overtime, MSU's Rickea Jackson took over, scoring nine points as the Bulldogs pulled away for the win.
"I thought our young ladies did a great job tonight just playing hard," Auburn head coach Terri Williams-Flournoy said. "Mississippi State is ranked No. 9 in the country, and I thought our kids gave them everything that they could.
"I told them that we're doing just enough to stay in the game but we've got to figure out how to do a little bit more to win it. We're staying right there. We're in the game, we're competing, but we're not finishing it out. We've got to figure out how to finish it out."
After going three games on the precipice of tying Auburn's career double-double record, Thompson finally got the 40th of her career with a 24-point, 11-rebound night. She almost had it by halftime with 15 points and nine rebounds in the first half. Thompson also added two steals, a block and an assist, and was 8-for-9 at the free-throw line.
Alexander went a perfect 12-for-12 at the free-throw line, setting a new Auburn record for free throws in a game without a miss. On the night, Alexander finished with 21 points, making it two times against Mississippi State this year that both Thompson and Alexander topped the 20-point mark. She also had six assists and a season-high five steals.
Robyn Benton added 14 points, including 6-for-6 on free throws, and Lauren Hansen had 13 points, hitting three 3-pointers. Benton also had two blocks.
Auburn had its best free-throw shooting night of the season, hitting 28-of-31 attempts (90.3%). The Tigers also were tough from long range, going 9-for-19 (47.4%) on 3-pointers, and shooting 42.9 percent overall (24-for-56). Mississippi State, meanwhile, shot 55.4 percent from the floor and controlled the inside game, scoring 56 of their 92 points in the paint while holding Auburn to 22 paint points. The Tigers forced MSU into 21 turnovers, converting those into 20 points, but MSU had 23 points off 22 Auburn turnovers. The Bulldogs out-rebounded Auburn 38-26.
The Tigers shot lights-out in the first quarter (8-for-12) and led 23-19 at the end of one. They were able to extend that lead to 11 points at the half at 46-35, the highest-scoring first half of the season for Auburn. A 15-point, 9-rebound first half for Thompson paced the Auburn effort, as did 11 fast-break points and a 13-for-13 half at the free-throw line.
Auburn missed early chances to extend its lead in the third quarter, but mostly held the Bulldogs at bay through the first five minutes. A 3-pointer from Lauren Hansen with 3:40 to play in the third gave Auburn its biggest lead at 60-46. But after a two-minute cold stretch for both teams and the Tigers leading by 11, State took advantage of several Auburn mistakes to score six points in the final 28 seconds of the period to cut it to 62-57.
The Bulldogs took their first lead since early in the game at 69-67 with 5:49 to play. They extended that to as many as five points on a Carter layup with 2:06 left. But Auburn got a stop, forced a turnover, and was 6-for-6 on free throws over the next minute-plus to tie the game at 79-79. Auburn got a turnover and had the ball with 30.4 seconds left, but turned it back over on a 10-second violation. MSU's Andra Espinoza-Hunter missed a 3-pointer at the buzzer to send it to overtime.
MSU's Rickea Jackson led all scorers with 34 points, and Jessika Carter added 17 points and 10 rebounds.
The Tigers hit the road for their next two games, beginning with a trip to College Station, Texas, to face No. 16 Texas A&M. Game time is 3 p.m. CT Sunday at Reed Arena with a national broadcast on ESPN2.