AUBURN, Ala. – Missing three key players and their head coach due to illness, the Auburn women's basketball team willed its way to a 71-62 victory over South Alabama Thursday night at Neville Arena.
The Tigers (2-0) used a 15-0 run through the middle of the second quarter to turn an early deficit into a lead they would not relinquish. South Alabama (1-1) would not go quietly, however, getting as close as five points in the fourth quarter before Auburn made two key buckets down the stretch to seal the win.
Head coach Johnnie Harris was unable to be on the sidelines, so associate head coach Damitria Buchanan assumed the reins for Thursday's game. Auburn was also without junior Precious Johnson, sophomore Romi Levy and freshman Mya Pratcher, all of whom missed the game with illness.
"We really fought hard," Buchanan said. "Credit to South Alabama, they're a really good team. We had one day to prepare for them, then coming into today we had to deal with a little bit of adversity when it came to bodies and coaches. We were able to pull it out, and I credit everybody in our program for being able to work together to get this win. It wasn't easy, and I don't think it would have been easy if we had been full strength, because they're a really good team."
Freshman Kaitlyn Duhon had a monster game in her second collegiate appearance, scoring 17 points to go along with seven rebounds, three steals and a pair of blocks. Junior Aicha Coulibaly led the Tigers with 19 points and pulled down five boards on the night.
Kharyssa Richardson, another freshman, contributed nine points and seven rebounds, and classmate Sydney Shaw finished with eight points and shared the team lead with three assists. Senior Honesty Scott-Grayson knocked down two key 3-pointers, finishing with six points to go along with five rebounds and three assists.
Auburn shot 37.7 percent from the field (23-61) and struggled from long range, hitting just 4-of-20 3-point attempts. But they were solid at the free-throw line for the second straight game, hitting 21-of-26 (80.8%). South Alabama won the rebounding battle 47-41, but the Tigers turned 20 Jaguar turnovers into 28 points.
A 16-12 Auburn lead after one period quickly turned into a 21-18 Jaguar advantage as South opened the second quarter on a 9-2 run. But South would not score again for more than six minutes as the Tigers went on a 15-0 run, ultimately taking a 35-27 lead at the break.
The Tigers would lead by as many as 15 in the third quarter before the Jaguars closed the gap to as few as five points early in the fourth. Leading by just six with two minutes to play, Richardson sunk a driving layup to push the lead to 8, and Scott-Grayson knocked down her second corner trey of the night to seal the win.
Kelsey Thompson led South Alabama with 21 points and eight rebounds. Nadia Howard added 12 points.
After playing two games in three days, Auburn will get a much-needed break over the next few days as their next game will be next Wednesday, Nov. 16, when they host Georgia Tech at Neville Arena.
Shorthanded Tigers hold off South Alabama 71-62
