KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – Three Tigers scored in double figures, but No. 20 Tennessee's size and speed were too much in an 88-54 loss Sunday afternoon at Thompson-Boling Arena.
The Tigers will be the No. 13 seed in this week's SEC Tournament and will face Florida in the first round. Game time is 3 p.m. CT Wednesday in Greenville, S.C.
"They're big, and we knew they were big," Auburn head coach Terri Williams-Flournoy said. "We got good shots, we just needed to knock some of those shots down early. We started hitting some shots later, but the shots we needed earlier would have helped and given them a little momentum.
"I told them at halftime, as bad as we played in the first quarter, we were only down by 10. It was tough, when you're not playing with many players and play that many games. Had we had more numbers, it's ok, but that's a lot of minutes you're asking these young ladies to play. It affects our game plan, we're not able to press as much. We still forced 18 turnovers, but the legs just have to be there."
Alaina Rice led Auburn with 11 points and four assists and shared the team lead with five rebounds. Unique Thompson also had five rebounds along with 10 points, and Alycia Reese matched a season-high with 10 points as well. Romi Levy added eight points, and Honesty Scott-Grayson and Aicha Coulibaly each had three steals.
Tennessee shot 58 percent from the field, a season-high by an Auburn opponent, hitting 34-of-59 shots. Auburn was 21-of-67 (31%). The Tigers forced the Lady Vols into 18 turnovers, converting those into 17 points, but UT out-rebounded Auburn 47-29.
Rennia Davis scored 23 points to lead Tennessee, and Kasi Kushkituah added 19.
