COLUMBIA, Mo. – Unique Thompson set the Auburn career record with her 41st double-double, three players finished with 20-plus points, and Auburn got its first road SEC win of the season with a 95-82 victory over Missouri Thursday night.
Auburn used a blistering third quarter, hitting their first 10 shots of the period, to pull ahead to as much as an 18-point lead, and Missouri would get no closer than seven points the rest of the way. The Tigers' 34 points in the third quarter was a school record for a single period, and Auburn's 95 points on the night were its most in an SEC game since 1990.
"We knew that we really had to get after it," Auburn head coach Terri Williams-Flournoy said. "We've always had good 3-point shooters, it just hasn't been that good this year. I think they were just really playing with a lot of confidence. They knew the importance of this game, and we knew how good Missouri was on the offensive end. We knew we had to score."
Thompson finished with 12 points and 14 rebounds to get her 21st double-double of the season and the 41st of her career, passing DeWanna Bonner for the all-time Auburn lead. She is currently second in single-season double-doubles with 21; Lauretta Freeman owns the single-season mark with 23.
It was a banner night for Auburn's offense as three players finished with 20-plus points. Robyn Benton scored a career-high 23 points with 17 of those coming in the second half; she also had four steals and a block. Erin Howard also had a career-high 22, hitting four 3-pointers. And Daisa Alexander was 7-of-9 from the floor for 21 points to go along with six assists.
As a team, Auburn shot a season-high 59 percent (35-59) and hit 9-of-23 3-pointers (39.1%). The Tigers forced Mizzou into 20 turnovers, converting those into a season-high 28 points. Auburn also out-rebounded Missouri 35-25.
Auburn led most of the first half and took a 39-37 lead to the break. Both teams shot better than 50 percent in the opening half, but Missouri ended the second quarter on a 13-6 run.
But Auburn was white hot to start the third quarter, hitting its first 10 shots as it opened up a 14-point lead at 60-46 with 6:18 to play in the period. The shots kept falling as a late 6-0 run, punctuated by two straight buckets from freshman Annie Hughes, gave the Tigers a 73-55 lead.
Missouri would chip away in the fourth quarter, getting as close as seven points in the final minute, but Auburn went 8-for-10 at the free-throw line in the final 51 seconds to put the game out of reach.
Freshman Aijha Blackwell led Missouri with 27 points and 11 rebounds.
The Tigers will close out the regular season at 2:05 p.m. CT Sunday as Auburn hosts Tennessee at Auburn Arena. Senior Daisa Alexander along with senior managers AK Prestridge and Sean Holmes will be honored in a pregame ceremony.