AUBURN, Ala. – Auburn went toe-to-toe with 17th-ranked Florida Monday night, but was unable to make enough plays down the stretch as the Gators held on for an 83-77 win at Auburn Arena.
The Tigers had their highest-scoring night in SEC play and had four players in double-figures, but Florida took advantage of Auburn foul trouble and numerous opportunities at the free-throw line to hold off a late Auburn charge.
"We wanted to start fast and maintain," Auburn head coach Johnnie Harris said. "I thought we came out of the gate pretty much even, but we wanted to start fast. We got some good looks, but we still missed some layups. We didn't do a good job keeping them from getting to the rim.
"We had some kids step up and knock down some big shots. Annie knocked down a big 3, Xaria hit a big 3 in there. But we've just got to play better. We've got to finish."
Honesty Scott-Grayson recorded her third double-double of the year, leading the Tigers with 21 points and a career-high 14 rebounds. Aicha Coulibaly fought early foul trouble to finish with 15 points and seven boards, Annie Hughes added 13 and Sania Wells had 12 points and six assists. Jala Jordan knocked down three 3-pointers to finish with nine points.
The Tigers hit a season-high eight 3-pointers – three apiece from Jordan and Hughes – and shot 43.1 percent from the field (28-65), hitting one more shot than the Gators. The teams were dead even in rebounding at 38 apiece (16 offensive, 22 defensive for both teams), but the deep Florida bench scored 28 points to Auburn's seven.
Auburn led 17-16 at the end of one as Coulibaly hit four of her first five shots. But the Gators pulled ahead midway through the second as foul trouble reared its head; two starters and one reserve missed significant time with two fouls apiece as the Gators took a 39-36 lead at the break.
Florida would increase its lead to 43-37 early in the third, but Auburn would answer with a 10-0 run, punctuated by 3-pointers from Hughes and Xaria Wiggins, to take a 47-43 lead. Two more triples from Jordan and Scott-Grayson kept Auburn in the lead, but the Gators would take advantage of more Auburn foul trouble to end the quarter on an 8-2 run over the last three minutes and take a 60-55 lead to the final period.
The Gators' lead would swell to as many as 14 midway through the fourth, but Auburn slowly began to chip away. A 12-point deficit with 1:54 to play was whittled down to four with less than 20 seconds to play, and a Hughes 3-pointer with 9.2 seconds left brought it to a one-possession game at 80-77. An opportunity with a missed Florida free throw, however, went awry as the Gators got the offensive rebound, were fouled again, and hit two more free throws to put the game away.
Five players scored in double-figures for the Gators, led by Zippy Broughton with 18 points.
Auburn faces its toughest test of the season Thursday night on the road when they travel to Columbia, S.C., to take on the top-ranked Gamecocks. Game time is 6 p.m. CT at Colonial Life Arena with the broadcast on SEC Network.
PLAY4KAY DONATION
Before the game, head coach Johnnie Harris had pledged $2 per student in attendance to the Kay Yow Cancer Fund, and associate head coach Bob Starkey had pledged $1 per student. Harris decided to bump her donation to $5 per student, and Starkey rounded his donation to $500. With 209 students scanned – one of the largest student crowds for an Auburn women's basketball game in recent memory – Harris' donation will total $1,045 for a total of $1,545 from the Auburn coaching staff to the Kay Yow Cancer Fund.
"Kay Yow was really special to me," Harris said. "Just to give back and to help raise awareness for breast cancer, that research is so important. I just wanted to do a little bit more."
Auburn drops back-and-forth battle to No. 17 Florida
