ATHENS, Ga. – Aicha Coulibaly scored 20 points and had a career-high seven assists, but Auburn was unable to overcome a big third quarter for Georgia in a 70-59 loss Thursday night at Stegeman Coliseum.
A single-digit game most of the way, Auburn kept it within striking distance but could never get the final push to retake the lead in the second half. Georgia took advantage of numerous free-throw opportunities throughout the game – but especially in the second half – to seal the win.
"It was a defensive battle," Auburn head coach Johnnie Harris said. "And then free throws. Early in the first half, we turned the ball over, we had 12 turnovers at halftime. We took care of it a lot better in the second half, but we didn't get a lot of good looks."
Coulibaly led the Tigers with her seventh 20+ point performance of the season; she also had six rebounds. Honesty Scott-Grayson added 16 points, knocking down three 3-pointers on the night, and Precious Johnson scored 10 off the bench and matched a season-high with a team-leading seven rebounds.
The stat sheet was nearly even – both teams made 23 field goals, 16 assists and 18 turnovers. Georgia was slightly better from the floor at 43 percent to Auburn's 40, and Auburn made four 3-pointers to Georgia's one. The Bulldogs pulled down 40 rebounds to Auburn's 27.
But the biggest difference came at the free throw line, where Georgia was 23-for-28, and Auburn hit nine of 15 attempts. The Bulldogs were a perfect 17-for-17 at the line in the second half.
Georgia led 28-25 after a defensive struggle in the first half. Trailing by as many as five early in the period, Auburn used a 6-0 run midway through the quarter and moved ahead 22-20 on a Scott-Grayson layup with 3:02 to play.
But Auburn would not score until the final seconds of the half as Georgia moved back ahead by six. A 3-pointer by Sydney Shaw just before the buzzer cut the margin to three.
The Bulldogs, however, would come out of the locker room on fire, hitting 8-of-11 attempts from the floor in the third quarter to build as much as a 13-point lead at the start of the fourth.
Auburn would chip away slowly, getting as close as five points on a Scott-Grayson trey followed by a Coulibaly layup to make it 62-57 with 1:55 to play. The Tigers, however, would not score from the field again, and the Bulldogs salted it away at the free-throw line.
Diamond Battles led Georgia with 21 points, including 12-of-16 at the free-throw line. Javyn Nicholson had a double-double off the bench with 12 points and 10 rebounds.
Auburn closes out the regular season Sunday, Feb. 26, at home against Vanderbilt. Game time is set for 3 p.m. CT at Neville Arena. Sunday's game is Senior Day as seniors Sania Wells and Honesty Scott-Grayson will be recognized prior to the game. The Senior Day ceremony will begin at approximately 2:35 p.m.
