AUBURN, Ala. – Auburn's Jala Jordan recorded her first career double-double, and two other Tigers hit for double-figures as Auburn picked up an 82-58 victory over Grambling State Saturday afternoon at Auburn Arena.
The Tigers (7-3) overcame a sluggish start to pull away in the third quarter and earn their fifth straight victory, Auburn's longest winning streak since the 2018-19 season.
"We wanted our team to come out and play hard, play tough, be the aggressor," Auburn head coach Johnnie Harris said. "I didn't think we started off that way … but I thought it got better. Didn't particularly think we played a good game today, but we are getting better. We have a lot we need to work out. They understand that. But this team is growing, we're a work in progress, and I'm excited that we have another game Monday to see where we can go back and fix some things."
Jordan finished with 23 points and 10 rebounds, both career-highs, to lead the Tigers off the bench. She was 10-of-13 from the floor and also tallied a pair of assists.
"Jala really stepped up for us today," Harris said. "She's been smiling all day, every time she made a basket she smiled. But she really stepped up and played big for us today. I'm really proud of her. We've been seeing this from Jala in practice. She likes to get out there and shoot 3s, but I think this game will show her that we will put her in a position to do what will help this team. And right now we need her to score inside."
Aicha Coulibaly added 17 points, eight rebounds, and six steals, and Honesty Scott-Grayson finished with 13 points and a team-leading five assists. Freshman Mar'Shaun Bostic made her first official collegiate start, finishing with a season-best eight points along with two steals.
As a team, Auburn topped the 50-percent shooting mark for the second time in three games, hitting for 52.7 percent from the floor (29-of-55). The Tigers out-rebounded Grambling 39-27 and scored 16 points off 19 GSU turnovers. Grambling was 23-of-59 (39.0%) from the floor.
Grambling (2-7) jumped out to an early lead and led for a majority of the first quarter, but a corner 3-pointer from Amoura Graves in the final minute put Auburn ahead; it would be 19-15 after one. Jordan then sparked a run with six of Auburn's first eight points of the second quarter, pushing the lead to 10 just three minutes into the period. The Auburn lead would grow to as much as 13, but a late Grambling run would cut the advantage to 38-30 at the half, despite Auburn shooting 56 percent in the opening 20 minutes.
A late third-quarter run propelled by three straight Grambling turnovers helped push the Auburn advantage to 58-38 by the end of the third. From there, Jordan took over, scoring 10 of her 23 in the final quarter as every Auburn player dressed saw action in the game with 10 of 11 finding the scoresheet.
Grambling was led by Alexus Holt with 21 points, and Justice Coleman added 10.
Auburn will wrap up the non-conference portion of the schedule with a Monday matinee as the Tigers host Kennesaw State. Game time is noon CT at Auburn Arena.
Jordan's career day leads Auburn past Grambling 82-58
